La Piaggia e il Pozzo della Polenta

Why it matters

Corinaldo's Piaggia connects the town's concentric rings and ends at the eastern gate. The staircase is associated with the Pozzo della Polenta, a fifteenth-century well at its centre, and with the town's humorous nickname. A local story recounts that a sack of cornmeal fell into the well and gave rise to the name.

What to notice

The Porta di Santa Maria del Mercato at the foot of the staircase includes a pointed fourteenth-century arch. An inscription records the date 1340. The well was built in the second half of the fifteenth century by the local lord Accattabriga to serve nearby houses. It was filled in during the early twentieth century and reconstructed in 1980.

Context and history

The gate and staircase belong to the early defensive ring of Corinaldo. The well's cornmeal story is a local legend that became part of the town's identity. The Contesa del Pozzo della Polenta later developed as a historical reenactment, drawing on the legend and the town's sixteenth-century history.