Rimini is the city that gave birth to one of the most famous Italian directors in the world. Fellini’s Rimini is found represented in the places and characters present in his most famous movies.
In Fellini’s mind, Rimini is cut into two major areas, outlined by the railway line: the od town and the area surrounding the beach.
“I Vitelloni” and the characters from “Amarcord” dominated Piazza Cavour: the medieval square of the city, where even today you can admire the beautiful headquarters of the Arengo (the town hall) and the “Fontana della pigna” (a symbol so dear to the inhabitants of Rimini), which still preserve some parts dating back to Roman times. Behind Piazza Cavour, there is the Rocca Malatestiana, setting of a scene from Amarcord.
The area has been totally renovated and has been renamed Piazza dei Sogni (Square of dreams), in which 3 main areas can be distinguished, all with references to the most important Fellini’s cinematographic transpositions: the Velo d’acqua (Water Veil), which recalls the passage of the Rex transatlantic in Amarcord, the Circo della Vita (Circus of Life), that is the track in 8 ½ , and the Bosco dei Nomi (Wood of Names), that is inspired by the countryside in Amarcord.
Finally, if you continue from Piazza Cavour towards the canal harbor, you will come across the Fulgor Cinema, an undoubtedly special place in the heart of the master, because it was here that Fellini saw his first film: “Maciste all’inferno”. It is often evoked in his movies and today this building is the cornerstone of the Fellini Museum project.
This project is a so-called museum complex that consists of 3 spaces: Castel Sismondo, Palazzo Valloni (with the aforementioned cinema on the ground floor) and the Piazza dei Sogni. In the museum it is possible to admire movies, documentaries, interviews, scripts, scores, costumes and props of his most famous movies. At Castel Sismondo, the exhibition is divided into 16 rooms, while in the Fulgor Cinema building original movie posters are displayed, as well as textual and visual documents.
Continuing in the same direction, in a few minutes you get to Borgo San Giuliano, with its colorful houses in the narrow alleys. In recent years, these houses have been frescoed by the inhabitants of the borough, who proudly pay tribute to Fellini in what was his favorite place to walk and imagine his stories.
The other side of Rimini is the area surrounding the beach and the sea. Its emblematic place is its Grand Hotel, which was partially damaged during the bombings of World War II.
The same master said that in this place “crimes, kidnappings, nights of crazy love, blackmail, suicides” were possible, “during the summer evenings, the Grand Hotel became Istanbul, Baghdad and Hollywood …“.