A History of Rimini
Just one year before Elisabeth Kenny’s famous and documented visit to Rimini in 1790, King George III famously went to the seaside resort of Weymouth in England, on the advice of his physicians. This was also the time when the bathing costume and the bathing machine (a walled wooden cart with a roof that allowed women to arrive in the water without offending Victorian notions of decency) were designed.
At the end of the 18th Century however, Rimini was not a Mecca for Italian bathers. Professor Feruccio Farina makes a point that Rimini was not particularly famous either for its beaches or bathing facilities at this time. Therefore, Elisabeth Kenny’s famous trip to Rimini may have been more of a quick stopover as she was on the way to the nearby city of Cesena.
It was only at the close of the 19th Century that the city of Rimini began to gain popularity as a seaside resort. This primarily came about with the opening of the famed Kursaal or Cure Room in German, which is a huge neo-classical structure designed by Gaetano Urbani. It cost the city of Rimini over One million lire to build and was inaugurated in 1873. This famous building along with The Grand Hotel which was built in 1908 were strong symbols of a new type of tourism that hoped to revive the city of Rimini’s economy – an economy that had been in steady decline since the days of Sigismondo Malatesta.
At the beginning of the 20th Century Rimini had already started its transformation into a quaint little tourist and seaside resort which would be the perfect place for Italians and foreign tourists alike to spend the lazy hazy days of summer. With the arrival of World War II, Rimini’s tourism would change. By late 1944 Allied Troops had been bogged down in their advance, and occupying German troops established the infamous Gothic line just south of Rimini. Today one can see the allied war cemeteries which are a testament to the ferocious fighting that occurred to liberate the town of Rimini. As Rimini was such a strategic point due to having both a port and a railway, it was heavily bombed by the allies. In April 1945 Italian partisans rebelled against the German occupying troops, thus paving the way for the final allied advance northwards. Rimini therefore, entered into a completely new era.
1948 saw the famous Kursaal building demolished on the orders of the first left wing council. The was a dramatic step and a symbolic break with the bourgeouis past of Rimini’s tourism and one must now look at old black and white photos to get an idea of what this building was all about. During the 1950’s and 1960’s an economic boom took place in northern Italy. The booming production of these northern factories along with a demand for decent holidays made resorts like the city of Rimini rise to the challenge
Rimini certainly rose to this particular challenge and promptly started to build up a tourist infrastructure that would bring families to the riviera, enticed by clean and 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 Rimini accommodation, and certainly some of the best food found in Italy. During a period of 30 years Rimini slowly established itself as one of the best places to go on holiday in Italy and according to La Repubblica -21st March 2007 it is estimated that over half of the population in Italy has been on holiday to Rimini at least once.
Today’s Rimini sees a wealth of events and festivals held each summer, ranging from street theatre and wine tasting to open air cinema and exquisite fashion shows. Many of these fabulous events have tried to incorporate the charms of the old town of Rimini.
Rimini happens to be one of those perfect holiday and weekend break destinations as it enjoys direct flights from many cities around Europe. Another thing about Rimini is that both culture and the typical beach holiday exist side by side separated by only a few kilometres. Why not take a dip in the sea and sun yourself during the day and maybe having a light lunch of fresh fish and piadina (the exquisite and tasty 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 few glasses of Sangiovese wine. What more could one ask for whilst in Rimini on holiday.
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