Centre and pulsing heart of the "ancient" Cesenatico is without doubt the canal harbour of Leonardo.
Designed and thought already in the 1300, the canal harbour of the city of the Riviera was realized after two centuries no less than by the genius of Leonardo Da Vinci by order of the Borgia family that ruled over the Romagna during that years.

Leonardo resolved an age old problem that seemed to be unsolvable for the luminaries of the epoch: the conformation of the sea floor provoked the covering- up of the entrance of the harbour that became as a consequence unusable.
Da Vinci changed the orientation and the length of the palisades, created big artificial basins and gave the canal the classic zig- zag form.

Historic notions aside, the canal harbour is pointing out now because of the open-air Museum of the Marine and because of the presence of restaurants and shops of haute- couture on its banks.
To enjoy shop windows and to walk slowly on the quays of the canal is since ever one of the fix appointments of the weekend, especially during winter months.