A Trip Through Rimini - The Previous and Present9783046
If Sigismondo Malatesta a famous 15th Century Lord of Rimini came back, what would he make of Rimini today? Apart from some of the obvious variations between the renaissance city of Malatesta and the contemporary city these days, (Malatesta's castle is still standing) the presence of cars, modern buildings and electrical lighting would probably amaze him. The most incredible factor although apart from the above would most likely be Rimini's move to the coast.
The city of Rimini in Malatesta's era had its defences inland which ran about what is today recognized as the centro storico. When Sigismondo Malatesta came to energy he decided a change was in order and promptly embarked on a vast building programme which included the Tempio
Malatesta - one of the finest examples of neo-classical architecture in Europe - and his huge and extremely contemporary fortress, the Rocca Malatesta. The city of Malatesta was built on top of the current city - in other words on the website of the Roman city of Ariminum which was founded in the year 286 B.C. Malatesta used the current Roman monuments at the time, including the famous Ponte di Tiberio and Arco d'Augustoand incorporated them into his city. These well-known monuments can nonetheless be seen these days on your trip to Rimini.
Taking a walk about Rimini today, Malatesta would find the beautiful sandy beaches and their magnetism fairly puzzling throughout the summer time months. Back in Malatesta's day the practice of lying in the sun on the beach and going for a dip would have been strange if not dangerous as the beaches back then had been places for smuggling and brigandry as they were away from the city of Rimini's primary defences. Italian cities just like
Rimini were often at war with each other and had been in continuous conflict with their neighbours. Malatesta, throughout his life was in a continuous energy struggle with Federico da Montefeltro, Lord of Urbino and also the Pope.We also know that Pope Pius II excommunicated Sigismondo in 1460 declaring him a heretic.
So when did Rimini start to turn out to be a city that is, for Italians and the numerous vacationers from the globe more than, synonymous with sun, sea, and sand? In his fascinating study of the history of sea bathing in Rimini - Una costa lunga due secoli (Panozzo Editore), Professor Feruccio Farina, of the University of Urbino, sheds light on 1 of the first tourist to take a dip in the beautiful sea in Rimini. Her name was Elisabeth Kenny, and she was the young Irish wife of a Roman noble. Professor Feruccio Farina says that she is recorded as having visited the city of Rimini in the summer time month of August of 1790 (over 300 years following the death of Sigismondo Malatesta), and stayed for over two weeks to advantage from the wonderful sea air and waves.
Rimini is one of these classic vacation destinations for Italians and tourist alike. Rimini has been blessed with sun, sand and sea as nicely as culture. The classic beach vacation and culture vacation coexist right here in Rimini much to the delight of all that arrive here. Rimini is effortlessly reached by numerous direct flights from many cities about Europe.
