Chiesanuova, the castello that chose to be Sammarinese

Chiesanuova has a story that says more to me than any tower could. It wasn’t conquered or bought; it asked to join. On 10 February 1320 its people requested to become part of the Republic, when it still went by the name Busignano, and it has been Sammarinese ever since. Today it’s a small, green castello in the south that very few visitors ever reach.

From Busignano to Chiesanuova

The castello’s page traces its roots to the hamlet of Teglio and the medieval castle of Busignano, in the area now called La Fratta, not far from today’s village. A handful of remains lie hidden in brambles and wild plants. That’s also where my favourite legend in the country comes from, about a convent built on the ruins that owned a bell made entirely of gold. When the monks were attacked they buried it, and as the story goes, it’s still underground.

The name Chiesanuova only arrived in the 16th century. Wikipedia puts it down to the rebuilding of the church of San Giovanni Battista in Curte, which has since disappeared. How the country assembled its nine municipalities is covered in San Marino’s castelli.

A castello of woodland

At just over five and a half square kilometres, Chiesanuova is among the smallest in the country, ahead only of Acquaviva and Montegiardino. Yet 114 hectares of it are forest, resting on the first foothills of the Apennines, and that gives it scenery you won’t find elsewhere in San Marino. Wikipedia puts its highest point at Lo Zoro, 511 metres.

The spot I’d head for is Gorgascura, where the vegetation is dense, because on its edge, on the bank of the Fosso Canepa stream, stands the Molarini watermill. The government presents it as one of the very few mills in the country with its stone structure still whole. A few kilometres further down, in Gualdicciolo, five more once turned beside the San Marino stream. I haven’t found opening times, so assume it’s an outside view. For walking routes across the country, see San Marino’s walking trails.

A village square by a poet

The centre is proper village. There’s the early 20th-century school, the Casa del Castello designed by the engineer Gino Zani, who also remodelled the Teatro Titano, and opened in 1943, an amphitheatre and the Pennarossa cinema. Wikipedia adds that the present square was conceived by the poet Tonino Guerra and finished in 2011. That detail alone would make me pull over.

The same encyclopaedia tells two recent stories. On 19 June 2002 the Bosnian artist Šejla Kamerić, with the authorities’ agreement, closed the border with Italy to draw attention to Sarajevo’s isolation, and on 14 July 2010 a memorial stone to Srebrenica was placed here, one of the first in Europe. The castello is also proud of a famous local, the motorcycle racer Manuel Poggiali.

Festivals

In the official 2024 calendar, the latest the government has published, Chiesanuova held the Sagra del Cicciolo on 2 and 3 March and its castello festival from 6 to 9 June, plus an environmental day in April. Nothing has been published for 2026, so I’d ask the council before going. For the rest of the year, see what’s on in San Marino.

Getting there

By public transport, the option is line 1, which on weekdays links car park P9 in the capital with the village via Murata and Fiorentino. Outside those hours the SMUVI on-demand bus uses the same stops and can be booked by app or phone. By car, head south off Mount Titano towards neighbouring Fiorentino. The transport details are in getting around San Marino.