Torraccia, the hill with the broken tower and San Marino's only runway

On 22 August 2026, at around nine in the morning, Pope Leo XIV didn’t enter San Marino through Dogana or up the Rimini road. He arrived by air, at a hill in Domagnano most visitors have never heard of, and the Captains Regent were waiting for him on a grass runway. That sums the place up rather well, a small village with a tower on a coat of arms and the only landing strip in the country.

The tower behind the name

The name gives away that there was once a tower here. A Lombard fort stood on top of Montelupo hill, looming over the valley, as the government puts it. Only a few ruins are left, with the little Torraccia church standing beside them. The outline of that tower is the one you’ll see on the coat of arms of Domagnano, the castello Torraccia belongs to.

Wikipedia puts Torraccia east of Domagnano, at 250 to 300 metres, with no more than 150 residents. I like hills with a ruin on top because you grasp straight away why somebody built a lookout tower exactly there, with the slopes running down towards the coast.

Does San Marino have an airport?

That’s the question that brings most people here, and the short answer is no. There’s no commercial airport, and scheduled flights land at Rimini, Bologna or Ancona, as I explain in getting to San Marino. What San Marino does have is the Torraccia airfield, for light aircraft, microlights and helicopters.

The figures come from the Aeroclub San Marino, the body licensed to run it. The runway is grass, 625 metres long and 30 wide, at 240 metres above sea level, with the ICAO code LIKD. It’s open every day from half an hour before sunrise to half an hour after sunset, and pilots have to give 24 hours’ notice. There’s a very Sammarinese quirk in the rules, too, as you can’t fly in directly from outside the Schengen area without first clearing customs at an Italian airport.

Forty years of flying club

I find the airfield’s history rather charming. The club says a sloping strip was built back in 1981, and the first airmail flight between San Marino and Italy took off from it. In 1985 a group of enthusiasts, including Franco Giardi, Carlo Lonfernini and Giuseppe Macina, founded the Aeroclub, with its first base in a restaurant in Torraccia itself, and in 1986 the flying school started, qualifying around ten microlight pilots in its first intake.

Today it has its clubhouse and hangars beside the runway, works with the Civil Protection and Civil Police on patrol and rescue flights, and puts on events for locals, such as the Befana party on 6 January, which in 2026 started at 10:00 and which the club describes as a tradition. Its biggest recent day was the papal visit, when all overflights were banned within 2.5 nautical miles.

A flight over Mount Titano

This is where I’d splash out. The Aeroclub says it runs tourist and sightseeing flights in two-seat and four-seat aircraft, with a planned route to see the Montefeltro hills from above. There are no prices or online bookings, so you’ll have to email or ring. If you enjoy flying, I’d pick this over any of the quirky museums in the old town, because no terrace gives you the three towers on their ridge the way the air does. If you’d rather keep your feet on the ground, there are San Marino’s best viewpoints.

The club also has a bar which, according to its website, is open every day, and it boasts views reaching the sea at Rimini.

The late-August festival

Torraccia has its own festival. The official 2024 calendar put it on 23 to 25 August. Wikipedia describes four days with a briscola card tournament, bands, food stalls, a charity raffle and, above all, fireworks, run by a residents’ cooperative. There’s no 2026 calendar out yet, so for other years check San Marino’s events calendar.

Getting there

The bus that climbs up here is the 6, which starts at P9, calls at Borgo Maggiore, Valdragone and Domagnano’s main square, stops at Torraccia and carries on down to Dogana on weekdays. Be aware it isn’t one of the lines running from 16 June to 14 September, and outside its hours you’ll need SMUVI, the on-demand minibus covered in getting around San Marino. Driving, the Aeroclub is at Strada Montelupo 27, and I’d combine it with Domagnano and Valdragone, both on the way.