From
the Renaissance to the Riviera - Strolling through Rimini's Historic Past
(Italy) by Michael O'Connor
Rimini
Featured Hotels / Self-Catering
in Emilia-Romagna
Who knows what Sigismondo
Malatesta, the famous 15th Century Lord of Rimini (and original 'renaissance
man', as described by American poet Ezra Pound) in the Italian region of
Emilia-Romagna, would make of his city were he to return today. Apart from
the obvious differences between the renaissance city (many significant
parts of which remain, for example Malatesta's castle) and that of the
21st - i.e the presence of skyscrapers, electrically powered street lights,
and the ever present motor vehicle - one thing would perhaps strike him
above all, the move to the seaside.
 In
Malatesta's time the city and its defences were decidedly inland, running
around what is considered the centro storico today. Malatesta, on coming
to power, embarked on a huge building programme, which included the famous
Tempio Malatesta - the first, and one of the finest examples of neo-classical
architecture in Europe - and his huge, and at the time thoroughly modern
fortress, the rocca malatesta. His city, though, was built primarily on
top of the existing city's site - that is to say on the site of the Roman
city of Ariminum, founded in approximately 286 B.C. Existing roman monuments,
including the famous Ponte di Tiberio and Arco d'Augusto (which remain
impressive monuments today) were incorporated into his city, all of which
- even given the retreat of the sea over the centuries, were inland from
the beach.
Strolling around today's
city, Malatesta would find, at least during the summer months, a gravitational
pull towards the expansive sandy beaches that would probably puzzle him.
In his day the notion of lying on the beach for the day, with an occasional
swim to cool off, would have seemed particularly strange, if not downright
dangerous. The beach was a place for brigandry and smuggling, away from
the protection of the city's defences. Let's not forget, as well, that
in Malatesta's time cities like Rimini were often at war with neighbouring
city states. Throughout his lifetime Malatesta was in continuous conflict
with powers like his neighbour Fedrico da Montefeltro, Lord of Urbino,
or indeed the Pope (Pius II, for example, excommunicated Sigismondo in
1460 declaring him a heretic). Sunbathing and sea bathing would not, perhaps,
have been high on the average citizens' priorities at the time.
So when did Rimini start
to change, to become a town that is, for Italians (and increasingly tourists
from around the world), synonymous with sun, sea, and sand? Professor Feruccio
Farina, of the University of Urbino, in his fascinating study of the history
of seabathing in Rimini - Una costa lunga due secoli (Panozzo Editore)
- gives us a portrait of one of the first foreign tourist bathers to dip
her toes into Rimini's gentle waves. Her name was Elisabeth Kenny, and
she was the young Irish wife of a Roman noble. She's recorded as having
visited Rimini in August of 1790 (over 300 years after the death of our
Sigismondo), and stayed for over two weeks to benefit from the sea waves
and air.
It's, perhaps, not surprising
that Farina's bather was an Irish woman, as sea-bathing became intensely
popular in the British Isles during the 18th Century. As early as 1707
physicians like William Buchan were advocating sea-bathing for health reasons,
believing in curative properties of sea water. In 1750 the famous Dr Richard
Russell published his treatise Glandular Diseases, or a Dissertation on
the Use of Sea Water in the Affections of the Glands, advocating both bathing
in and the drinking of seawater. Seaside resorts sprang up around the English
coast as the practice of taking the waters became a fashion craze. A year
before Elisabeth Kenny's visit to Rimini, for example, the nervous King
George III famously went to the seaside resort of Weymouth, on the advice
of his doctors. It was also during the late 18th century that both the
bathing costume and the bathing machine (a roofed and walled wooden cart,
allowing women to arrive in the water without offending Victorian notions
of decency) were designed.
This is not to suggest, though,
that Rimini at the end of the 18th Century was a Mecca for Italian bathers.
Far from it, as Farina points out, the city was not particularly famous
either for its beaches or bathing facilities at this time. Kenny's visit
to Rimini was more down to convenience, travelling as she was to nearby
Cesena. Rimini's fame as a seaside town started closer to the end of the
19th century, with the opening of the famous Kursaal (cure room in German),
a giant neo-classical structure designed by Gaetano Urbani, which cost
the City over One million lire to build. It was inaugurated in 1873, and
became, along with later the Grand Hotel (built in 1908), a potent symbol
of a new type of tourism that would revive the city's economy - as in truth,
since the days of Sigismondo Malatesta, Rimini had been in a steady decline.
Between the latter 19th Century
and the first half of the Twentieth Century, Rimini started transforming
itself into the ideal tourist resort. A perfect place to spend the hot
months of the Italian summer (before air conditioning made staying in hot
& humid cities like Bologna practicable). The second world war, though
would change the nature of Rimini's tourism.
By the winter of 1944 Allied
Troops had been bogged down in their advance, and occupying German troops
established the infamous Gothic line just south of Rimini (dotted around
the hills of Rimini are allied war cemeteries, testament to the fierce
fighting that took place to liberate the town). Rimini with its port and
railway was strategically bombed heavily by the allies, destroying much
of the historic town during the final months of the Italian campaign. In
April 1945 Italian partisans rebelled against the German occupying troops,
paving the way for the final allied advance northwards, and Rimini entered
into a new era.
 In
1948, the town's first left-wing council took a dramatic step and ordered
the demolition of the Kursaal structure - a symbolic break with the bourgeouis
past of Rimini's tourism, and a move much lamented nowadays where one must
look at grainy black and white photos to get a glimpse of the famous building.
Whether the Kursaal would have fitted into post-war Rimini's seafront is
debatable, though, as Rimini rebuilt itself both in terms of its buildings
and image. The 1950s and 60s saw the Italian economic miracle take place,
with booming production from the factories of the North, and the rise in
demand for good-value holidays. Rimini, perhaps more than any other Italian
resort town, rose to the challenge.
At the same time that Federico
Fellini, Rimini's most famous modern son, was recreating the city of his
youth in films like the Oscar winning Amarcord, the actual city was building
up a tourist infrastructure that would bring families to the riviera, lured
by well kept beaches (the seafront was divided up and licenced out to beach
operators charged with keeping the beach clean and pristine, in return
for the right to charge for beach loungers and umbrellas), affordable accomodation,
and some of the best food in Italy. Over a period of 30 years Rimini established
itself as the place to holiday for Italians. It's been estimated that over
half of the Italian population has visited Rimini at least once (La Repubblica
-21st March 2007).
Ironically though, were Sigismondo
Malatesta to stroll around the Riviera today,, he'd find the stirrings
of a gravitational pull back towards his own buildings, and the historic
city centre. There's a renewed interest both amongst tourists and experts
in Malatesta's Rimini - a high profile conference was held, for example,
last year in Los Angeles. At the same time the wealth of events and festivals
held each summer, ranging from street theatre and wine tasting, through
to open air cinema and fashion shows, have introduced many to the charms
of the old town of Rimini.
What makes Rimini a good
holiday destination (easily reachable by direct flights from around Europe),
is that one doesn't have to choose between the classic beach holiday or
culture. In Rimini they exist side by side, separated by a few kilometres.
You can sun yourself during the day, perhaps lunching on a plate of fresh
fish and piadina (the delicious local flat bread), while in the evening
taking in a classical concert in the Renaissance castle, followed by a
dinner of wild boar and a glass of Sangiovese wine. Describing Rimini,
rock star and film-director Luciano Ligabue (who set his remarkable film
Da Zero a Dieci in Rimini) remarked that this riviera town 'is like the
blues. It has everything in it'. It's hard to disagree.
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in Emilia-Romagna
About the Author - Michael
O'Connor, a freelance writer, has been visiting Rimini for more than ten
years, and collaborates with visit-rimini.com |
