The Rimini territory extends into the bordering areas between the southernmost part of the Padana plains region and the most peninsular part of Italy. This unified landscape - with the sea to the east, the sub Apennine ridges to the southwest, rolling hills sloping down to the sea and the plains in the central area – give the territory an ever-changing appearance.
Vineyards at the foot of the Verucchio Castle - Rimini
- the plains area, which includes Bellaria-Igea Marina, Cattolica, Misano Adriatico, Riccione, Rimini, San Giovanni in Marignano, Santarcangelo di Romagna, having a total surface area of 26,470 ha;
- the hills, which include Coriano, Gemmano, Mondaino, Montecolombo, Montefiore Conca, Montegridolfo, Montescudo, Morciano di Romagna, Poggio Berni, Saludecio, San Clemente, Torriana and Verucchio having a total surface area of 26,900 ha. The province, which is perpendicular to the coastline, can be divided into three main water basins: Marecchia, Conca, and Marano; and in four secondary ones: Uso, Rio Melo, Ventena and Tavollo; four specific landscapes are parallel to the sea, each of which makes up its own 'environment' and each has its own scenery with specific characteristics.
1- Mid hill range
This area represents the innermost part of the provincial territory and can be recognized by its variations in altitude which can range between 200 and 400 meters approximately above sea level. Here there are accentuated landforms: Gemmano, Montescudo, Torriana and Verucchio. A certain undulating continuity is prevalent, and the overall landscape is the typical gently rolling hills. The steeper hillsides are characterized by the presence of compact lithoid outcroppings, most of which are generally stable. In the hillsides that are not as steep, there is not so much agricultural activity which is carried out mainly at the edge of the sparse woodlands and brush thickets which are all of what remain of forests that have long since been reduced in terms of both surface and quality.
View of the Montefiore Castle
2 - Lower hill range
The most widespread area of the provincial territory is covered by hills with altitudes of 200 meters or less.
They tend to be rounded and they slope gently down to gradually blend into the plains areas. Formations of clay and loam are what characterize these landscapes. Spontaneous vegetation is scarce and forests are limited to a very few areas. Agriculture, and in particular wine growing and olive growing, are predominant in this area and make up most of the landscape.
The valley bottoms are characterized by more or less recent alluvial deposits, the result of periodic variations in hydro-geological arrangement that are due mainly to the torrential nature of the streams.
The hills are the greatest asset of this landscape and environment, especially in view of the typical forms of plains and coastal areas, which rise towards the softer ridges of the south central Apennines.
3 - Plains
This area is the inner portion of the territory that spans the distance from where the foothills fan out and extends to the flat stretch of the coast. The area originated from alluvial deposits, which were the result of fluvial transport and il characterized by incisions that are more or less wide and deep as the streams themselves.
The deposits range from gravelly to loamy: each one generates a very interesting type of soil from a paedo-agronomic viewpoint, and are highly productive. Most of this area has been greatly urbanized, to the point that only a small part of it can be used for agriculture. Spontaneous vegetation is limited to a few tracts of fluvial belts: in many cases it looks like a real fluvial landscape and thus camouflages some of the aspects associated with human activity. This area is made up of sea deposits and by a limited area of continental deposits. The lower limit is where the sea ends, and is represented by a sand belt that is practically rectilinear and uninterrupted except by streams which arrive perpendicularly to the shoreline.
View of the sea from the hills
of Montescudo - Rimini
4 - The Coast
The morphology is initially flat, then it is broken up; there is a morphological step and then it shifts where erosion and retraction of the sea as well as various interventions by man cause it to vary continuously over time. The building up of the beach by the sandy sediments is one of the greatest problems man has to face regarding the costal environment. For the moment this loss has been kept under control by the creation of a great defense barrier built parallel to the coastline
Excerpt taken from "La viticoltura ed il Territorio della provincia di Rimini" ("Winegrowing and the territory in the Rimini Province"): technical-economic report attached to the application for the recognition of the D.O.C. Colli di Rimini.
