A sharp rock surrounded by perpendicular cliffs, the landscape descending gradually from the Appennines to the sea; old houses superimposed between a magnificent castle and an eye filling bell tower; a weaving of history and legend, the sacred and the profane, between horrible prisons and quiet parishes: all this is San Leo.
In times of wars between the Goti and the Byzantines, the Longobardi and the Franks, San Leo saw its fame grow as an unconquerable fortress. In 963 Berengario II nominated it the capital of the Italic Kingdom, and for many months the small but strong town resisted the siege of Ottone I, Emperor of Germany.