Porto Canale

The antique historical centre of Cesenatico hosts the Porto Canale (harbour) which still constitutes the heart of this city in the Province of Forlì-Cesena. The design of the harbour was carried out by Leonardo da Vinci for want of Cesare Borgia, so-called "il Valentino".

When, at the beginning of the 16th century, Duke Valentino called Leonardo to design the harbour of Cesenatico, he was already an affirmed architect and engineer and had already realised his most important works.

The artist was called by Borgia so as to solve a problem that characterised many harbours of the Riviera Romagnola, and that was the gathering of sand at its entrance. Leonardo managed to solve this problem by profoundly modifying the structure of the harbour, by widening its banks and modifying the length and the orientation of the palisades so that the sea water could quickly retract from the canal during the low tide.

The permanence of Leonardo in Cesenatico is testified in his personal travel note pad which confirms the date of September 6th 1502 as his day of arrival in Cesena. Within his travel diary called "Codice L", there is also a design of the city of Cesenatico and a project for the harbour.

Since the end of the 19th century, the harbour hosts the Museo della marineria and, despite the restoration carried out in 2005, one can sustain that the work of Leonardo is still visible in this place. Many are the tourists who, especially during the Summer months, walk along this harbour admiring the numerous boats that are moored here.

The visitors to the harbour and to the Museo della Marineria will not have any problem finding accommodation in one of the numerous hotels in and around Cesenatico, a seaside resort rich in receptive structures dedicated to tourism.