A Trip Through Rimini - The Previous and Present6574562
If Sigismondo Malatesta a well-known 15th Century Lord of Rimini came back, what would he make of Rimini these days? Apart from some of the obvious differences between the renaissance city of Malatesta and the contemporary city these days, (Malatesta's castle is still standing) the presence of cars, contemporary buildings and electrical lighting would most likely amaze him. The most incredible factor although apart from the above would probably be Rimini's move to the coast.
The city of Rimini in Malatesta's era had its defences inland which ran about what is these days known as the centro storico. When Sigismondo Malatesta came to power he decided a alter was in order and promptly embarked on a vast building programme which integrated the Tempio
Malatesta - one of the finest examples of neo-classical architecture in Europe - and his enormous and extremely modern fortress, the Rocca Malatesta. The city of Malatesta was constructed on top of the existing 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 existing Roman monuments at the time, such as the famous Ponte di Tiberio and Arco d'Augustoand incorporated them into his city. These well-known monuments can still be seen today on your trip to Rimini.
Taking a stroll around Rimini today, Malatesta would discover the beautiful sandy beaches and their magnetism quite puzzling throughout the summer 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 harmful 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 had been often at war with each other and had been in continuous conflict with their neighbours. Malatesta, all through 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 begin to turn out to be a city that is, for Italians and the many tourists from the world 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 one of the first tourist to take a dip in the stunning 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 fantastic sea air and waves.
Rimini is one of these classic holiday 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 here in Rimini a lot to the delight of all that arrive right here. Rimini is effortlessly reached by many direct flights from numerous cities about Europe.
