Villa Mussolini
Villa Mussolini
Villa Mussolini in April 2007
Former names
  • Villa Monti
  • Villa Margherita
EtymologyBenito Mussolini
General information
StatusCompleted
AddressViale Milano 31
Town or cityRiccione, Province of Rimini (RN)
CountryItaly
Coordinates44°0′12.50″N 12°39′36.01″E / 44.0034722°N 12.6600028°E / 44.0034722; 12.6600028
Current tenantsMunicipality of Riccione
Named forBenito Mussolini
Completed1892
Renovated1940, 2005
OwnerBanca Carim
Technical details
Floor count3
Design and construction
Architect(s)Ferdinando Mancini
Known forSummer holiday home of the Mussolinis
Other information
Public transit access

Villa Mussolini is a seaside villa in Riccione, in the Province of Rimini, Emilia-Romagna.

Built in 1892,[1] the original two-storey villa had thirteen rooms and a side-turret on its south side.[1][2][3] In 1934, it was purchased by Rachele Guidi, second wife of Benito Mussolini, Italy's fascist dictator. The Mussolinis used it as a summer holiday home,[4] and expanded the property in 1940, adding an additional floor.[5] During his stays, Mussolini would conduct government business from the villa and host notable guests and foreign dignitaries.[3][5][6]

In 1997, the villa – by then called Villa Margherita – was purchased by the Cassa di Risparmio di Rimini, who loaned it to Riccione's municipal government.[5][6][7][8] After a one-million-euro restoration,[8][9] the villa reopened as Villa Mussolini in 2005. It hosts cultural events and exhibitions,[3][8][10] as well as civil wedding ceremonies.[11] The villa's name and use continues to attract local controversy.[9][10][12][13]

History

Early years (1892-1934)

The villa was built in 1892 for Marquise Eugenia Beccadelli,[1] who divided her time between Florence and Bologna.[1][7] Its architect was Ferdinando Mancini.[7] The villa features on the 1895 map drawn for the state's first bathing resort concessions.[7][14][15]

The two-storey villa originally had thirteen rooms, including a garage, greenhouse, and laundry room;[2] it included a side-turret on its south side,[1][3] which faced east towards the main entrance.[1] The property was set in 1,397 square metres (15,040 sq ft) of land.[2]

Beccadelli died in 1904,[7] and the villa subsequently passed into the ownership of Giulio Monti of Ferrara,[1][7] from which derived the name of Villa Monti.[1][7][16] It was then sold to the family of Count Angeletti of Bologna,[1][5] who sold it to Giulia Galli Bernabei, its last owner before the Mussolinis.[1][2][4][5][7]

Purchase by Rachele Guidi (1934)

Villa Mussolini in 1935

For some years before their purchase of the villa, the family of Benito Mussolini, Italy's fascist dictator, had spent their summer holidays on the riviera romagnola; Mussolini and his second wife, Rachele Guidi, were themselves from Romagna's countryside.[2][4][5] In 1924 and 1925, the family stayed in Cattolica.[4] In 1926, they stayed in the villa of Count Terzi in Riccione,[2][4][5][6] opposite the Grand Hotel Des Bains and near the Mater Admirabilis church.[4][6][16] Between 1927 and 1932, they stayed at Domenico Galavotti's Hotel Al Lido on Piazzale Roma.[4][6] In 1933, the family moved to Pietro Tontini's Hotel Milano Helvetia; Tontini and Mussolini were comrades in the First World War.[4]

Guidi was keen to purchase a property in Riccione for their next summer stay. She paid 170,000 lire for Galli Bernabei's villa;[2][4][5] the purchase deed was signed on 2 July 1934,[2][4][5][16] and registered in Forlì on 21 July 1940.[2] Galli Bernabei did not want to sell the villa, and was persuaded only after the intervention of Frangiotto Pullè, Riccione's mayor.[7] According to one account, Guidi purchased the villa using money intended as a donation to the Opera Nazionale Balilla, leaving her husband under the impression that the villa was a gift from the people of Riccione.[4][5] Other versions say that Guidi used money from local party subscriptions,[5] or royalties from Mussolini's articles in Fortune.[6]

Mussolini summer holiday home (1934-1944)

Mussolini and his son, Romano, on Riccione's beach in 1932

The villa was guarded by 150 soldiers, reaching 300 during the summer holidays. The Presidential Guard, dressed in black, were nicknamed furnarèin (cockroaches) by locals for their ability to appear unexpectedly from street corners.[4] Mussolini would conduct government business from Riccione during his stays, including welcoming visiting dignatories.[3][5][6] Guests at the villa included singer Gea della Garisenda, senator Teresio Borsalino, and Austrian chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss.[6] Dollfuss' family was staying in Riccione during his assassination in July 1934,[4][10] and it was at the Villa Mussolini that Galeazzo Ciano, Italy's Minister of Foreign Affairs, informed Mussolini of Operation Barbarossa in June 1941.[10] It is believed that the villa included a cinema room which showed foreign films prohibited by the regime.[6]

Mussolini would arrive in Riccione from Rome on a Savoia-Marchetti three-engined seaplane. A 75-metre (246-foot) ship, Aurora, would be stationed off Riccione's coast.[17] Mussolini would bathe in the sea, where he would be greeted by crowds and photographers.[16][17] As a result of his association with the area, Riccione's development is cliched as dependent on Mussolini's patronage.[17]

On 1 July 1939, the Rimini–Riccione route 11 trolleybus line opened near the villa, replacing a previous tramway.[18][19][20][21] The line terminated at Piazzale dei Giardini; it was reconfigured shortly after its construction to bring trolleybuses to terminate on the piazzale's mountain-facing side, thereby avoiding trolleybuses passing near Villa Mussolini and disturbing guests.[21][22] Guidi used the trolleybuses during her stays at the villa.[21]

1940 expansion and renovation

In 1940, the property was expanded with the annexation of the land between the present-day Viale Milano, Via dei Giardini, and Viale Ippolito Nievo.[1][3][5] The property was thus brought to a total area of 6,000 square metres (1.5 acres).[5]

Some of the existing buildings in the annexed area were destroyed and replaced with a tennis court and garden, including a vegetable garden and shed.[5] A high perimeter wall was built, and new buildings were erected for Mussolini's children on the new land.[1]

The main villa itself was renovated with the addition of a third floor and a ground-floor veranda.[5] The works were overseen by the Swiss engineer Dario Pater using populit, an unstable material of concrete and chipboard for prefabricated buildings developed under Italy's autarky.[5][23][24][25] The works cost 6 million lire, paid by the Ministry of the Interior.[5]

Post-war abandonment (1944-97)

After the Second World War, Villa Mussolini remained in Guidi's ownership:[5] as it was not registered in Mussolini's name, it was not entirely requisitoned by the state.[1] As Mayor of Riccione, Galli Barnabei, the villa's pre-fascist owner, unsuccessfully attempted to regain the villa's possession.[5] In 1946, a court in Rome ceded the villa's front part to the municipal government, who destroyed the patio to restore Viale Milano. Villa Mussolini was sold in 1952, and was the site of various commercial activities,[1] including a restaurant,[26] until it was abandoned to decay in the 1980s.[1]

In the post-war years, the villa came to be known as Villa Margherita, commonly believed to have been the villa's name before the Mussolinis, though incorrectly: Margherita was the name of a separate, neighbouring villa belonging to the Galli Bernabei family that was demolished in the 1940 expansion.[7]

In 1979, Terzo Pierani, Riccione's communist mayor, suggested flattening the villa;[9] the local communist party maintained an unsuccessful campaign for its demolition.[27][28] In 1983, Pierani's administration purchased the garden to transform it into a public green area, reversing the 1940 expansion. The area now houses Piazzale Eugenio Curiel, which includes a bus station and car park.[3][5] To some historical irony, it became the terminus of the route 11 trolleybus in 1994.[22][29]

Purchase and 2005 renovation (1997-)

In the 1990s, the Friends of Riccione Association campaigned for the villa's reacquisition.[5][30] In 1997, it was purchased by the Cassa di Risparmio di Rimini, who loaned it to the municipal government for its restoration.[5][6][31] In turn, the municipal government was contractually able to use the villa for thirty years.[8] The restoration cost 1 million euros,[9][8] divided 3:1 between the municipal and provincial governments.[9][27]

The villa reopened in 2005.[1][5][6][32] Controversially, Romano Mussolini, son of Benito, was among 350 guests at the reopening ceremony on 17 July 2005, at the invitation of the municipal mayor.[8][27][31] Since its reopening, the property has been used for cultural events and exhibitions,[3] as well as civil wedding ceremonies.[11] It hosts the annual DIG Award, a prize for documentary film investigative journalism that was dedicated to Ilaria Alpi until 2014.[33][34][35]

The Cassa di Risparmio, which by then had become Banca Carim, advertised the property for sale in December 2017;[6][36] Villa Mussolini was still reported to be in the bank's possession in March 2023.[37]

Name controversy

Following the 2005 renovation,[12] the centre-left municipal administration officially restored the 'Villa Mussolini' name, to local controversy.[9][10][12][13] As a result of the villa's name, some entertainers have refused to perform at the venue.[9][13][37]

In August 2020, Lodovico Zanetti, the president of Forlì's ANPI chapter, suggested that the villa be renamed after the Matatia family,[38] three Jewish brothers from Corfu who settled in Riccione in the 1920s. The eldest brother, Nissim, bought a villa within eyesight of Villa Mussolini; his family was deported and killed in Auschwitz.[39] Roberto Matatia, Nissim's nephew, published a book in January 2014 recounting the family's history in proximity to Villa Mussolini, entitled The Inconvenient Neighbours.[33][39]

In April 2021, the municipality freely loaned the villa to an agency promoting Riccione's candidacy for UNESCO heritage. The loan was criticised for attaching Mussolini's name to the candidacy.[10]

Villino Pater "Cacetta"

The Villa Mussolini complex included a cottage, known as Villino Pater or "Cacetta", which is still extant on Via Latini. The villa was owned by the engineer Dario Pater. It was twinned with another villa and connected by a portico; its twin, which no longer exists, belonged to Mussolini's nephew.[40] Like the 1940 additions to Villa Mussolini, the villa was constructed using populit.[5][23][24]

In October 2019, the municipal government sold the villa to a Milanese real estate company for 600,000 euros.[23][41][42][43] It was advertised for sale again in February 2020, for 980,000 euros.[44] A section of the wall collapsed in August 2020,[23][43] bringing down also part of the attic and the floor of the first floor.[23]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 "Villa Mussolini". Comune di Riccione. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Villa Terzi dimora di Mussolini negli anni '20 a Riccione" [Villa Terzi, Mussolini's home in Riccione in the 1920s]. Famija Arciunesa (in Italian). 22 January 2021. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Villa Mussolini". Comune di Riccione (in Italian). Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Zaghini, Paolo (28 August 2022). "Quando i Mussolini venivano a Riccione" [When the Mussolinis came to Riccione]. Chiamami Città (in Italian). Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 "Villa Mussolini". www.rimini.com. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 "Riccione, Villa Mussolini in vendita" [Riccione: Villa Mussolini for sale]. la Repubblica (in Italian). 1 December 2017. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Semprini, Armando (6 June 2021). "Villa Mussolini e Pensione Margherita: facciamo chiarezza" [Villa Mussolini and Pensione Margherita: let's clarify]. Famija Arciunesa (in Italian). Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Inaugurazione Villa Mussolini. Le voci della polemica" [Inauguration of Villa Mussolini. The voices of the controversy]. newsrimini.it (in Italian). 13 July 2005. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "I cantanti che rifiutano di fare concerti a Villa Mussolini" [The singers who refuse to give concerts at Villa Mussolini]. Today (in Italian). 17 March 2023. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Susinistorico, Daniele (7 April 2021). "Il caso di Villa Mussolini e il tradimento della memoria" [The case of Villa Mussolini and the betrayal of memory]. www.editorialedomani.it (in Italian). Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  11. 1 2 "Riccione, boom di nozze a villa Mussolini. Le donne del Pd: "Cambiare il nome"" [Riccione: Wedding boom at Villa Mussolini. PD's women: 'Change the name'.]. Corriere di Bologna (in Italian). 9 July 2018. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  12. 1 2 3 Mazoni, Antonio (23 March 2023). ""Villa Mussolini marchio di prestigio per Riccione?"" ['Is Villa Mussolini a prestigious brand for Riccione?']. Chiamami Città (in Italian). Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  13. 1 2 3 Oliva, Andrea (17 March 2023). "Riccione, i guai di Villa Mussolini. "Quel nome frena gli artisti"" [Riccione: The troubles of Villa Mussolini. "That name stops artists."]. Il Resto del Carlino (in Italian). Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  14. ↑ "La storia di Riccione, verso i 100 anni dalla sua nascita come Comune autonomo" [The history of Riccione: Towards the 100th anniversary of its birth as an autonomous municipality]. RiminiToday (in Italian). 18 February 2021. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
  15. ↑ "The town of Riccione: history and culture". Comune di Riccione. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
  16. 1 2 3 4 Masini, Manlio (14 February 2023). "La gita in barca di Mussolini, ospite di riguardo di Riccione" [Mussolini's boat trip: A distinguished guest in Riccione]. Corriere Romagna (in Italian). Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  17. 1 2 3 "La Storia" [History]. Comune di Riccione (in Italian). Retrieved 14 December 2023.
  18. ↑ "Storia della filovia Rimini - Riccione" [Story of the Rimini-Riccione trolleybusway]. www.trasportipubblici.info. 31 December 2006. Archived from the original on 27 June 2023. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  19. ↑ "History". Patrimonio Mobilità Provincia di Rimini. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  20. ↑ "Pronti a celebrare i primi 80 anni del filobus Rimini-Riccione" [Ready to celebrate the first 80 years of the Rimini-Riccione trolleybus]. RiminiToday (in Italian). 28 June 2019. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  21. 1 2 3 Renzi, Roberto (3 April 2020). "Il Filobus e la Guerra (1935-1945)" [The Trolleybus and the War (1935-1945)]. Trasporti Pubblici in Romagna. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  22. 1 2 Zaghini, Paolo (21 August 2022). "E chissà se resterà quell'11 fra Rimini e Riccione" [And who knows if the 11 between Rimini and Riccione will remain?]. Chiamami Città (in Italian). Archived from the original on 27 June 2023. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  23. 1 2 3 4 5 "Cacetta, crolla parete: momenti di panico" [Cacetta: Wall collapses; moments of panic]. Il Resto del Carlino (in Italian). 9 August 2020. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  24. 1 2 Lombardi, Lidia (22 May 2021). "Claretta senza aura" [Claretta without aura]. succedeoggi (in Italian). Retrieved 24 December 2023. [D]onna Rachele fa affari con Dario Pater, lo svizzero inventore di un materiale edile di facile utilizzo, quel populit con il quale in quattro e quattr'otto si tiravano su casette – a Ostia, ad Acilia, a Riccione; per non dire del milione di lire che nel 1938 il Senato stanzia per "Ben" senza indicarne la causale. [[D]onna Rachele does business with Dario Pater, the Swiss inventor of an easy-to-use building material, that populit with which small houses were built in a hurry - in Ostia, in Acilia, in Riccione; not to mention the million lire that in 1938 the Senate allocated for 'Ben' without indicating the reason.]
  25. ↑ "Agosto 1940 nasce il "Villaggio Donna Rachele Mussolini"" [The 'Villa Donna Rachele Mussolini' is born in August 1940]. Famija Arciunesa (in Italian). 5 January 2021. Retrieved 25 December 2023.
  26. ↑ "Ristorante pizzeria il "Merendero" a Villa Mussolini" [Pizzeria restaurant 'the Merendero' at Villa Mussolini]. Famija Arciunesa (in Italian). 3 November 2020. Retrieved 25 December 2023.
  27. 1 2 3 "Italie: La nostalgie du fascisme se porte bien" [Italy: Nostalgia for fascism is alive and well]. Courrier international (in French). 19 July 2005. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  28. ↑ Bozonnet, Jean-Jacques (14 July 2005). "Fin d'un tabou pour les hauts lieux du fascisme en Italie" [End of a taboo for the high places of fascism in Italy]. Le Monde (in French). Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  29. ↑ Trolleybus Magazine No. 200 (March–April 1995), pp. 52–53. National Trolleybus Association (UK).
  30. ↑ Zaghini, Paolo (26 July 2020). "Italo Nicoletti, il re discreto di Riccione" [Italo Nicoletti, the discreet king of Riccione]. Chiamami Città (in Italian). Retrieved 29 December 2023. Inoltre nel 1985 [Italo Nicoletti] diventa il segretario dell'Associazione Amici di Riccione, fino al 1995 quando ne diventerà il Presidente. Suo compito era promuovere l'immagine della Città. Italo fu l'ideatore e il principale organizzatore di questa associazione, che fu il motore degli accordi fra Comune e Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio per l'acquisizione e la ristrutturazione di Villa Mussolini. [Furthermore, in 1985 [Italo Nicoletti] became the secretary of the Friends of Riccione Association until 1995, when he became its president. His task was to promote the image of the city. Italo was the creator and main organiser of this association, which was the driving force behind the agreements between the Municipality and the Cassa di Risparmio Foundation for the acquisition and renovation of Villa Mussolini.]
  31. 1 2 "Inaugurata la restaurata Villa Mussolini. Qualche slogan, ma nessun incidente" [The restored Villa Mussolini inaugurated. A few slogans, but no accidents.]. newsrimini.it (in Italian). 18 July 2005. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  32. ↑ De Rubeis, Angela (3 June 2008). "Mussolini: una villa la sua storia" [Mussolini: A villa with history]. Il Ponte (in Italian). Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  33. 1 2 "Villa Mussolini a Riccione: quando la memoria è viva come un fantasma" [Villa Mussolini in Riccione: When memory is alive like a ghost]. Il Fatto Quotidiano (in Italian). 24 February 2016. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  34. ↑ "Riccione, Premio Ilaria Alpi: inaugurata anche la mostra 'I bambini e la guerra'" [Riccione, Ilaria Alpi Award: The 'Children and War' exhibition is also inaugurated]. RiminiToday (in Italian). 5 September 2013. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
  35. ↑ "DIG Award". www.digaward.com. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
  36. ↑ Tempestini, Andrea (3 December 2017). "Riccione, la villa di Benito Mussolini venduta dalla banca in crisi: vale 1 milione". Libero Quotidiano (in Italian). Retrieved 25 December 2023.
  37. 1 2 Oliva, Andrea (16 March 2023). "La sinistra e i fantasmi della storia: "Alcuni artisti non hanno accettato di esibirsi dentro Villa Mussolini"" [The left and the ghosts of history: "Some artists do not agree to perform inside Villa Mussolini"]. Il Resto del Carlino (in Italian). Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  38. ↑ "Cambiare nome a Villa Mussolini, l'Anpi: "Dopo quasi un secolo sarebbe anche ora"" [The ANPI on changing the name of Villa Mussolini: 'After almost a century, it would also be time']. RiminiToday (in Italian). 5 August 2020. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  39. 1 2 Zaghini, Paolo (6 November 2022). "I Matatia di Riccione, la speranza che non muore mai" [The Matatia of Riccione, the hope that never dies]. Chiamami Città (in Italian). Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  40. ↑ "Villino Pater Caccetta". Impresa Edile (in Italian). Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  41. ↑ "Il Comune di Riccione vende la Caccetta, faceva parte del complesso di villa Mussolini" [The Municipality of Riccione sells the Caccia; it was part of the Villa Mussolini complex]. RiminiToday (in Italian). 28 October 2019. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  42. ↑ "Ex Cacetta a Riccione, conclusa la compravendita" [Ex Cacetta in Riccione: Sale completed]. newsrimini.it (in Italian). 28 October 2019. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  43. 1 2 "Riccione, crolla muro dell'ex "Cacetta". Anni di incuria e misteri sulla vendita" [Riccione: Wall of the former 'Cacetta' collapses. Years of neglect and mysteries surround the sale.]. Chiamami Città (in Italian). 9 August 2020. Retrieved 25 December 2023.
  44. ↑ Sani, Emer (10 February 2020). "Riccione, ex cacetta in vendita a 980mila euro: 'Il Comune doveva ottenere di più'" [The ex-Cacetta of Riccione is on sale for 980,000 euros: 'The Council should have got more for it']. Corriere Romagna (in Italian). Retrieved 25 December 2023.

Further reading

  • Nives Concolino, Anna Maria, and Giannini, Marina (2012). Villa Mussolini: Una finestra su Riccione [Villa Mussolini: a window into Riccione]. Guaraldi. ISBN 978-8880496557.
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