The Giornate Medioevali, San Marino's July medieval festival

If there’s a moment when San Marino looks like the film set many people expect, it’s the Giornate Medioevali. For a few days in July the old town fills with performers in period costume, crossbowmen and shows as the light fades. In 2026 it got a new name, so here’s what I can back with a source and the little that’s still unpublished.

What it is and when it happens

The Giornate Medioevali are the Republic’s medieval festival. They’re held in the old town in July, and the latest edition I could read on the official website is 2025, the 28th, from 25 to 27 July. That edition was free to enter, shows began at 18:00 and the artistic director was Giuseppe Del Barna, working with the tourist office under the patronage of the Secretariat for Tourism.

The name hasn’t always been the same. The Crossbowmen’s Federation says that in some years it was renamed «Historia», and its website carries a «Historica 2021» from 23 to 25 July. The Federation spells it Giornate Medievali, without the o. Same festival.

What changed in 2026 with San Marino Antiqua?

In 2026 the Secretariat of State for Tourism and the tourist office gave it a new name, «San Marino Antiqua – Leggende e Storie del Titano», and billed it as the successor to the Giornate Medioevali in a refreshed format. It ran from Friday 24 to Sunday 26 July, free to enter, with more than 800 re-enactors from San Marino and abroad, tournaments, old crafts, a medieval market and costumes to hire. It opened on the Friday at 21:30 with a fire show, and on the Sunday the Crossbowmen’s Federation shot its 70th-anniversary Palio in the Cava dei Balestrieri.

The tourist board’s figures put attendance at around 30,000 over the three days, with 14,926 cable car journeys and 3,514 hotel nights. That last number tells me the most, because it backs up exactly what I’d do, which is stay the night.

And 2027? No dates yet, and no word on whether the new name sticks. I’d hold off on the hotel until the programme is out and, in the meantime, look at the rest of the year in the San Marino events calendar.

What I wouldn’t miss

The finale. The festival closes with the «disfida del Tricorniolo», a crossbow shot at a target made of three logs of different diameters. To me it’s the most genuine part, because it’s no entertainment routine but the tradition of the Crossbowmen’s Federation, which keeps a document dated 3 September 1537 on its Palio. The same federation stages the Palio delle Balestre Grandi and the Torneo dei Castelli every year, though it doesn’t publish the Palio’s exact date.

The rest is atmosphere. If you enjoy photography, the cobbled lanes and the walkway up to the Guaita full of period costume give you plenty to work with. If you want to walk that ridge properly, I’ve mapped it out on the Three Towers of San Marino page.

How I’d plan it

July is the hottest month, with an average high of 27.4 °C, and the driest, with around four rain days. It’s also one of the busiest. In July 2025, 292,950 visitors arrived by car and coach, second only to August. That’s why I wouldn’t do the festival as a quick return trip from the beach.

What I would do is sleep up top or in Borgo Maggiore. From 1 July to 6 September the San Marino cable car runs until 00:45, every quarter of an hour (until 01:00 during the 2026 festival), so you can stay for the evening shows and get down without a car. Coming from Rimini, the shuttle bus takes 55 minutes and costs €7, but the summer 2027 timetable isn’t out yet, so I’d check the last departure before committing. The whole journey is covered in Rimini to San Marino.

If you miss the festival

San Marino’s old town in July has other things I value just as much. The State Museums keep summer hours, 08:30 to 19:45, and on 7 July, the anniversary of the UNESCO listing, entry is free. With the first two towers open that late, you can leave the climb until the end of the afternoon and ride the cable car down afterwards. What the ticket covers, venue by venue, is listed under San Marino’s museums.

Still to be confirmed

The 2027 dates and the name it will come back under. If you’re travelling in July and the festival is the reason, that’s the first thing I’d check with San Marino’s tourist office, which runs it together with the Secretariat for Tourism.