Santuario di Santa Maria delle Grazie

The origin of the devotion is linked to a story set in 1286. According to the legend, the shepherd Rustico tried to carve a Madonna from a tree trunk and was helped by two young men, later recognised as angels. The statue was taken to the harbour and placed on a boat that reached Venezia with no one at the helm. It is venerated in the Chiesa di San Marziale as the Madonna di Rimini.

The building's history, meanwhile, has documented dates. The church of 1391 corresponds to the present right-hand nave. Bombing in 1943-1944 caused serious damage, and reconstruction was completed in 1955.

The Frati Minori cared for the sanctuary for centuries. In October 2023, when the Franciscans could no longer look after it, the bishop of Rimini appointed a diocesan priest as rector.

Inside are the wooden ceiling shaped like a ship's hull, now in the left-hand nave, and the Annunziata by Ottaviano Nelli da Gubbio, dated 1415. A chapel preserves a Crucifixion by Nelli and a Crucifix by an unknown artist from the late 14th or early 15th century; two other wooden crucifixes date from the 16th and 18th centuries.

Chronicles mention the Via Crucis along the climb from Via Covignano from 1550. Nearby, Villa Alvarado houses Museo degli Sguardi, with ethnographic collections that can be visited on request.

The sanctuary is a place of prayer and worship, and visits to the artworks fit around services. Mass times can be requested by calling the sanctuary, whose phone number is listed with the rector's name in the Diocesi di Rimini directory listing. The hill also features among excursions from Rimini and alongside the city's monuments.