Category: Rimini

This rather glorious single-nave church was built in 1317, funded by the wealthy Malatesta family and it was operated (I’m not sure whether that’s the right word, but I’ve decided that I like it) by the Order of the Servants of Mary, a Catholic order established in Florence in 1233.

It’s very much a Baroque affair and that’s down to the work of Gaetano Stegani who modernised the whole design of the church between 1774 and 1777. However, the Servants of Mary didn’t get long to enjoy their newly designed church, they were kicked out in 1798 when their order was suppressed. The Dominicans replaced them, but they lasted for just a year.

There isn’t much subtlety to the Baroque period….

After religious matters settled down somewhat in the nineteenth century, the building was used as a parish church. In 1894, the façade which had remained relatively modest, was rebuilt under the supervision of Giuseppe Urbani. As if the Baroque styling wasn’t enough, the artist Luigi Samoggia added more gilding to the internal stuccoes.

It was a peaceful church with the smell of incense running through it. It’s perhaps a little too ornate for my own tastes, but it’s beautiful and I suspect that the Malatesta family would have been pleased with it.

Located at Piazza Cavour, in the heart of Rimini, is this statue of Pope Paul V (1550-1621) who held his Papal role from 1605 until 1621. This statue was designed by Nicola Cordier and cast by Sebastiano Sebastian in 1613.

I don’t know how long the marble base has been here, but some subtle repair work can be noted by the trained eye.

When Napoleon’s forces began making their enthusiastically unwelcome way through Italy, the denizens of Rimini took one look at their proudly papal statue and thought, perhaps quite reasonably, that it might not be the wisest thing to leave on public display. In an act of civic self preservation, they quietly removed Pope Paul V’s papal insignia and replaced it with more neutral decorations, effectively giving him a little political makeover in the hope that French troops wouldn’t take offence and reduce him to rubble. It was a cunning plan which worked well and the statue is still here today.

But, back to Pope Paul V, this great man of peace was merrily ordering assassinations on his opponents and also handing out key roles to his family members. Like many other Popes, he made his nephew a cardinal and the Italian word for nephew is ‘nepos’. And, that’s where the word nepotism comes from, the Popes handing out trophies to their family members, although it’s thought that a good number of Popes actually pretended their sons were their nephews (to get around that celibacy thing they demanded of others). It took until Pope Innocent XII (1615-1700) thought that this power grab by families was a little, well, sub-optimal and he started the fightback against nepotism.

Now this is exciting, known as one of the more important Roman bridges still standing. It is known today as the Bridge of Tiberius, but it is also known as the Bridge of Augustus and the Bridge of St. Julian. I’ve decided that I like the latter one the best, so that’s what I’m calling it.

The construction of this bridge began in 14 AD under Emperor Augustus and it’s evident that he likes things that were built to last. Emperor Tiberius finished the job off and it’s his name that seems to be the most commonly used now which probably would have annoyed Augustus.

This was an important structure, it carried the Via Aemilia and the Via Popilia, which in Roman times were major roads connecting Rimini to the rest of the Roman Empire. Architecturally, I think that this is rather beautiful with its five arches constructed out of Istrian stone, that sturdy pale rock that the Romans adored for its durability. It was also properly built with foundations that goes right into the riverbed, with some clever load distribution systems going on which even my civil engineer friend Liam would have likely been surprised and delighted by.

The bridge has had some challenging times, although that’s not entirely surprising given that it’s 2,000 years old. In 552, the bridge was deliberately damaged by a Gothic military commander and it was damaged again in 1528 when Pandolfo (a name which sounds like a magician) retreated from Rimini. The Spanish knocked it about a bit during the War of the Austrian Succession and it was ordered to be demolished by the Germans in 1944. However, the local commander seemingly deliberately did a bad job of that, so, fortunately, it was saved and it was the only bridge along the River Marecchia that did survive.

In May 2020, after some considerable years of debate, argument and planning, the sensible decision was finally made to pedestrianise it. That has now helped protect it for future generations and has made it much easier for pedestrians and cyclists to actually use without the fear of cars hitting them.

I had a little walk along the bridge, which is one of the oldest surviving in the world, and it is hard not to be impressed by the heritage of this. The stonework glistened and it looked sturdy and robust, I’m very much impressed at the Roman engineers who managed to put this together. The Istrian stone that was used wasn’t local and it would have been a faff to get here, but the Romans wanted something that wouldn’t promptly fall down and I’d say that it was worth the effort.

I like an old gate, imagining the heritage of this. Porta Galliana, which takes its name from the local Galli family, is the last surviving medieval gate of Rimini and it was originally constructed in the thirteenth century. It’s been knocked about over the years and remodelled plenty of times, but it’s still standing here. It is located by the Marecchia river and was part of the defensive structure of Rimini, with this being the water gate arrangement that gave access to the harbour.

The gate area was redeveloped recently to allow it to become more accessible and I think that they’ve done a really decent job of it. They’ve been hampered a little by it being 3.25 metres below the current street line. It was partly demolished in the nineteenth century and has been incorporated into other structures as the city changed around it.

The gate was restored by Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta, the Lord of Rimini, between 1417 and 1468. This was a time when Rimini was dealing with its medieval priorities of not being attacked by neighbouring cities, but also wanting to ensure its maritime trade continued. There were also some water management elements introduced to the gate, primarily to avoid flooding to the city.

After a long day of travelling, my evening plan was simply to get to the hotel and then have a little meander around the coastal part of Rimini. The hotel had a pleasant balcony arrangement looking out over the coast and Rimini felt like a slightly upmarket Great Yarmouth.

There’s a long promenade which has plenty of seating, along with restaurants and bars along the side although most of these seemed closed for the winter. There are then some paths to the sand and the Adriatic where I could have gone and sun bathed if I was interested in that. Well, moon bathed anyway.

So, below are just some random photos of my evening meander and apologies that some of them aren’t what might be called shining examples of photography. I’d note though that I was standing in what was pretty much entire darkness for some of the photos, so my phone did well to capture anything.