By virtue of a decree of the President of the Republic Giorgio Napolitano,  Castelplanio was granted the title of city on 11 July 2006.
Come here and taste its famous dish: the “Crescia sul Panaro”!
Since the 1950s and 1960s it has been a poor food  prepared with a few basic ingredients. It is made of polenta, that is a maize flour cooked in water within a special container, the  "callaro", where it was continuously stirred by hand with the aid of a particular ladle, a sort of long wooden cylinder with three or four metal edges on the bottom.
Since those lean years, when people could not afford to waste anything and leave it unused or eat it reluctantly, the left polenta was then reused by mixing it with a bit of wheat flour, kneaded it again (this time by hand) giving shape to the so-called "cresciola." . Then it was put on to the panaro, a metal plate with a long handle, a kind of pan without edges . See if you can find it  in our country houses , hanging on the wall or in the fireplace; today it is no longer a working tool, but only an ornament.
Wrapped in a large yellow sheet and holding it in your hands, taste the crescia  with vegetables (chard, chicory, wild herbs ...), ham or sausages.
It can be also a sweet crescia when fried and covered with sugar  or chocolate cream. It is a delicious dish, not only for children.
Treat yourself to a pleasant “voyage of  taste” into the traditional flavors of our cuisine and celebrate with us Castelplanio’s summer festival: “ La crescia sul panaro”. This year (2013) is the 40th edition.
The crescia is now stirred by a far more practical mechanical arm that operates automatically in the container-mixer in ordert to satisfy the hunger of so many visitors  from the neighbouring villages and towns of Vallesina and  of  Ancona and even from other countries.
Castelplanio is one of the last places in the Marche to have put the tradition of the crescia to an excellent level.

The Pro Loco Castelplanio is ready to celebrate the special 40th edition of  Crescia sul Panaro Festival with two long weekends (12-14 July and 19 to 21 July). Do not miss it!