cop_musei EN 3-01-2008 10:57 Pagina 1 C M Y CM MY CY CMY K © DiskArt™ 1988 © DiskArt™ 1988 edizione inglese [email protected] www.riviera.rimini.it I - 47900 Rimini, piazza Malatesta 28 tel. +39 0541 716371 - fax 783808 La Basilica Cattedrale di Rimini La Basilica Cattedrale Museums in the Province of Rimini Museums in the Province and culture of art,In search history, Provincia di Rimini Provincia alla Cultura Assessorato Turismo al Assessorato di Rimini Provincia alla Cultura Assessorato Turismo al Assessorato Riviera di Rimini Travel Notes Colori compositi cop_musei EN 3-01-2008 10:57 Pagina 2 C M Y CM MY CY CMY K Cattolica Rimini - Regina Museum - Municipal Museum Gemmano - Fellini Museum - Onferno Guided Nature Reserve - Museum of Looking, Mondaino Ethnography Collections - Municipal Museum - Museum of Offshore Fishing and Shells Montegridolfo Saludecio - Gothic Line Museum - Museum of Saludecio Montescudo and of the Blessed Amato - Valliano Ethnography Museum Santarcangelo di Romagna Riccione - History and Archaeology Museum - Villa Franceschi Modern - Museum of Rural Life in Romagna and Contemporary Art Gallery Verucchio - Local History Museum - Municipal Archaeology Museum Colori compositi Provincia di Rimini Assessorato alla Cultura Assessorato al Turismo Agenzia marketing turistico Riviera di Rimini Pier Giorgio Pasini Museums in the Province of Rimini In search of art, history, and culture Coordination: Valerio Lessi, Sonia Vico, Marino Campana Graphic design: Relè - Tassinari/Vetta Photography: Photo Library, Assessorato al Turismo della Provincia di Rimini (Provincial Department of Tourism) L. Bottaro, S. Di Bartolo, T. Mosconi; photo libraries of the Museums presented in this guide Translation: Gillian Forlivesi Heywood Link-Up, Rimini Page Layout: Litoincisa87, Rimini Licia Romani First Edition 2007 Reprinted 2008 Index > 5 Museums in the Province > 9 1. The World of Nature - Mondaino, Musei di Mondaino (Municipal Museum), Palaeontology Section - Gemmano, Museo Naturalistico della Riserva Naturale Orientata di Onferno (Onferno Guided Nature Reserve) > 15 2. The World of Archaeology - Riccione, Museo del Territorio (Local History Museum) - Verucchio, Museo Civico Archeologico (Municipal Archaeology Museum) - Rimini, Museo della Città (Municipal Museum), Archaeology Section - Cattolica, Museo della Regina (Regina Museum), Archaeology Section - Santarcangelo, Museo Storico Archeologico (History and Archaeology Museum), Archaeology Section > 33 3. Art and History - Rimini, Museo della Città (Municipal Museum), Art and History Section - Saludecio, Museo di Saludecio e del Beato Amato (Museum of Saludecio and of the Blessed Amato) - Santarcangelo, MUSAS, Museo Storico Archeologico (History and Archaeology Museum) Art Section - Mondaino, Musei di Mondaino (Municipal Museum), Majolica Section > 45 4. Local Life - Santarcangelo, Museo degli Usi e Costumi della Gente di Romagna (Museum of Rural Life in Romagna) - Montescudo, Museo Etnografico di Valliano (Valliano Ethnography Museum) - Cattolica, Museo della Regina (Regina Museum) Marine Section - Viserbella di Rimini, Museo della Piccola Pesca e delle Conchiglie (Museum of Offshore Fishing and Shells) > 55 5. The Modern World - Montegridolfo, Museo della Linea dei Goti (Gothic Line Museum) - Riccione, Galleria d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea Villa Franceschi (Villa Franceschi Modern and Contemporary Art Gallery) - Rimini, Museo Fellini (Fellini Museum) - Rimini, Museo degli Sguardi (Museum of Looking), Ethnography Collections > 64 Further information: a brief bibliography www > Before leaving home visit us at www.riviera.rimini.it www.cultura.provincia.rimini.it Museums in the Province History has left many signs and traces in the territory of Rimini: in its buildings, streets, urban layout, and art; and equally in its customs, language, literary culture, and agriculture. The tokens of this history, now scattered and divorced of context, have been collected with love and patience, and are now displayed in a number of museums, large and small, of ancient or recent foundation. These museums should not be seen as mere anthologies of “beautiful” or “curious” objects, but as places where we can experience the culture, the way of life, and the human events of this land, the furthest corner of the Romagna region, so gaining an insight into the numerous different roles it has played over the centuries. These collections bear witness to the high degree of civilisation, explain the relative originality, and account for the open hospitable nature of the people in this region. The territory of Rimini owes its complex and eventful history to its geographical location. As is immediately evident, the area acts as a “hinge” between northern Italy, characterised by the great Po Valley Plain, and central Italy, delineated by the Apennine mountains. At the same time, it is in a sense the “terminal” for connections between the north and the centre of the country and a transit centre for maritime links with the countries along the Adriatic coast and with the eastern Mediterranean. Rimini is the focal point where numerous roads begin, leading to Lombardy and the Veneto region, to Apulia and Tuscany, to Umbria and to Rome; and its harbour on the mouth of the river Marecchia is the point of departure for sea routes to Dalmatia and to Greece. These sea routes were much used by both merchants and pirates; while the overland routes were traversed by merchants from the Baltic countries following the amber road and by the Etruscans in search of new contacts; by the Roman Legions who invaded the Po Valley Plain in order to enlarge the dominions of Rome; by invading hordes of barbarians hoping to conquer Italy, pitted against the “Romans” of Byzantium; and subsequently by Longobards eager to find new lands; by German emperors intent upon reasserting their rights against those of the Papacy, and by bands of mercenaries Rimini, Museo della Città in search of a secure position; and finally by the armies involved (Municipal Museum): in that latest, most terrible struggle which was World War Two; majolica stove decorated with for it was here, on the furthest tip of the Gothic Line, that one of a representation of the last great battles of the “Italian campaign” was fought. dexterarum iunctio, early The territory of Rimini is on the edge of the Po Valley Plain nineteenth century. and is bordered by the sea and by the foothills of the Apennine 5 Mountains and by Mount Titano. These are by no means impassable barriers or borders; however, they do invite travellers to halt and to change step, and so are to some extent a limitation and a filter, a place of passage and also a land of expectations and contentions. Here are found fragments of cultures and civilisations which over the course of time have settled into the territory and amalgamated. These numerous erratic tokens, material and artistic, are mainly collected in fifteen local museums, linked into a network by a provincial “system” which supports and promotes them, enabling them to integrate with one another to offer opportunities and incentives for discovering the territory and its culture. In this brief guide the museums are grouped according to type: first those which illustrate the geological formation, the conformation and the nature of the territory; then those relative to its early populations and ancient civilisations, notably the Villanovan and Roman; then the museums of objects and works of art produced from the Middle Ages to the Modern Era. Then there are the museums which illustrate rural life and life at sea, and those dealing with the past century and the Second World War, which in causing so many deaths and so much damage in the area has left indelible marks on its history and appearance. This grouping prompts itineraries through the evolving ages of history, rather than through space; but the space covered by the territory of Rimini is small, and both easy and pleasant to visit, especially inland, where you will find a great variety of landscape and a dense network of roads. It may seem obvious, but it is worth noting that all the museums in the Province of Rimini have strong links to the territory, to its history, and to its people, and should therefore be seen, understood, and enjoyed in connection with the places which they illustrate; this increases their charm and makes them unique, original, and very much alive. Rimini, Museo della Città (Municipal Museum), room with seventeenth-century tapestry hangings. 6 1. The World of Nature There is no Natural History Museum in the Province of Rimini; there is, however, a Nature Reserve and a network of nature centres where it is possible to observe and study marine life and the wildlife of the hill country; these centres carry out many environmental education activities. The nature centres are partly in the public and partly in the private sector; they are normally under mixed management and are promoted by municipalities, voluntary associations, and socially useful non- profit organisations. In the middle Marecchia valley are found the Osservatorio Naturalistico Valmarecchia (Marecchia Valley Nature Observatory), close to the wildlife protection oasis in Torriana Montebello, and the outstation of the Rimini WWF Environmental Education Centre, Oasi di Ca’ Brigida at Verucchio. In the Conca Valley is the Riserva Naturale Orientata di Onferno (Onferno Guided Nature Reserve) in the municipality of Gemmano. Marine life is covered by the Fondazione Cetacea (Cetacean Study Centre)