The local calendar of Castel San Pietro Terme sees the Carrera teams engaged from May to September between free practice, official tests and races.
What is the Carrera? It is a self-paced race, born in 1954, which features push cars in the streets of the city. Over the years the regulation has changed and the "cars" (Le Carrere) have become increasingly performing. Today the "pushers" are real athletes who prepare themselves throughout the year for this event, very much felt by the castellans.
The name of this curious race is taken from the Pan-American Carrera, in which the great Formula 1 driver Juan Manuel Fangio ran. The vocation of Emilia-Romagna for engines, on the other hand, is well known. Just 10 km from Castel San Pietro Terme, the “Enzo e Dino Ferrari” Autodromo of Imola has been the venue for the San Marino Formula 1 Grand Prix and the World Championship for decades. It still hosts world-class races, such as those of Superbike, Formula 3, the Italian Tourism Championship and many other events, such as the C.R.A.M.E exhibition-market, running races - the legendary Tre Monti - and great music festivals in the summer. At the racetrack there is also the Checco Costa Museum, which collects trophies and stories of decades of races on the Santerno track.
Obviously Imola is only the closest motoring destination, but just move to the Riviera Romagnola to reach some of the most famous discos and beaches in Italy or the Misano racetrack, for those who want to stay on the motoring theme.
Engines are the protagonists everywhere in these parts: crossing the Apennines you get to Mugello, while Bologna is home to some of the largest manufacturers in the world: Ducati (in Borgo Panigale) and Lamborghini (in Sant'Agata Bolognese); a few km further on, already in the province of Modena, Maranello is the world heart of speed with the Ferrari headquarters and museum.
Bologna is mostly above all a city of culture: events, shows, exhibitions and fairs take place uninterruptedly in the Emilian capital, while those who love shopping find entire streets dedicated to shopping: from the central Via Indipendenza to the shops of the Quadrilatero, up to the Mercato della Piazzola, which is open on Friday and Saturday in the Piazzola throughout the year.
Among the most significant natural places on the Tuscan-Romagnolo Apennines there is doubtless the Sasso di San Zanobi, which legend has it laid by the Saint himself in a challenge with the Devil who, in all his fury, threw another boulder - the near Sasso della Mantesca - in the Sillaro Valley.
The huge Sasso di San Zanobi, lying on the side of the mountain right on the side of the road and mistakenly believed to be a meteorite, is actually an ophiolithic rock formation, or an ancient section of oceanic crust that emerged millions of years ago.
© 2023 Hotel Castello - Centro Artemide