predappio
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The town of Predappio has a relatively recent history: because of a landslide that put the old settlement, perched on the hills around Forlì, at risk, it was decided to rebuild it in a safer area down in the valley. The opportunity not only secured the population, but also offered the chance to enhance the valley-floor area—Dovia—where Mussolini was born.
The reconstruction plan approved in 1925 called for a straight thoroughfare skirting the bends of the Rabbi stream, with the main focal points to be the Duce’s birthplace and Palazzo Varano, a building Mussolini had lived in as a teenager and where his mother had taught for years as an elementary school teacher.
In 1926, architect Florestano Di Fausto was commissioned to redesign the village, with the constraints of not stripping it of its rural character while at the same time elevating its symbolic role. Di Fausto therefore chose an eclectic style, safeguarding tradition through the use of local materials such as terracotta brick. In the overall plan, there were also direct interventions by Mussolini, who in May 1926 visited the site to check on the design, offering opinions and giving precise instructions.
After visiting his restored birthplace, without substantial alterations, Mussolini wanted to see the Palazzo Varano construction site, which was also being restored to take on its new function as the Town Hall.
In particular, the Duce requested extensions and improvements in the creation of the new schools, which were to have large classrooms and adequate sanitary facilities. Di Fausto completed the Santa Rosa nursery and oratory and the elementary school, taking these requests into account.
Among the buildings designed by the architect is Casa Baecker, intended as affordable housing for six families. Its facade—softened by the segmental curves of the windows—alternates first-floor balconies with ground-floor entrances, creating a subtly dynamic effect.
Just outside the center, Di Fausto built the slaughterhouse and the livestock market (Foro Boario), connected via the town’s main artery to the Food Market, a semicircular exedra with porticoes set on 12 arches, located at the foot of the spur where the Duce’s birthplace stands. Here too, brick was the preferred material, simplifying the overall effect. A monumental staircase—which linked the market to Mussolini’s birthplace, bridging the change in level—was removed at the Duce’s request, reducing the ensemble’s monumentality.
Going down towards the square, on both sides of the main road stand two complexes of affordable housing, built by Di Fausto between 1926 and ’27, which clarify the designer’s eclectic intent in the raised and projecting floor forms, reminiscent of medieval house solutions.
Just beyond is the Post and Telegraph Building, a two-story structure that housed offices on the ground floor and the employee’s apartment on the first floor. As in other executions, Di Fausto created a series of small height variations and on the facade surface, to which a two-arched portico is added, within which is an entrance staircase. Some bas-reliefs by sculptor Ulderigo Conti ennoble the facade, balancing between sobriety and monumental effect.
On the opposite side stands the imposing Hotel Appennino, owned by I.N.A., entrusted in 1937 to Arnaldo Fuzzi, the same architect who executed the Casa del Fascio and dell’Ospitalità. Despite its size, the Hotel demonstrates strong formal simplicity, maintaining a lively dialogue with the modernist language of the time.
The Casa del Fascio, inaugurated in the same year, presents a much more monumental spirit, having to embody the symbol of the regime. The curvilinear body that develops on two corner streets is characterized by the strong contrast between the use of red brick and white travertine, and by the presence of the littorio tower, a citation of medieval towers.
On the opposite side of the main road axis, the Carabinieri Barracks stands out, one of the first buildings that were erected in the new Predappio, in response to the idea of order and security.
Very little remains of Di Fausto’s first design: the two-story building was decorated in the lower part with massive rustication, taken from 16th-century buildings, which accentuated the idea of stability, preserving a connection with the rural setting. In 1937, an intervention was decided – conducted by Arnaldo Fuzzi – which completely transformed the building, expanded by two longitudinal bodies that create a small inner courtyard.
Two cylindrical bodies were added to the sides of the facade, and the stone was replaced with red bricks and white travertine. A portico between the two curved side bodies tends to accentuate the monumentalist version of the typical architecture of the 1930s.
Palazzo Varano is the second center of gravity of the town, a symbol of the Duce’s presence. Before architect Di Fausto’s intervention, the building presented itself as a simple two-story parallelepiped, built in local stone.
After the 1926 restorations, the windows were rearranged, cornices were added, and a centrally positioned turret with a clock was installed. The more monumental effect of the ensemble is accentuated by the position of a balcony on the median body of the tower, whose function as a public arena is underlined by the presence of stucco decorations.
The elevated portion of the palace, which dominates the central square of the town, is opposite two buildings, the first of which is the Casa dei Sanitari, raised by Di Fausto from 1929.
After discarding the first hypothesis of using the area for a recreational building, it was decided to erect a health facility that was to contain a clinic, pharmacy, rooms for medical and paramedical staff and nuns, administrative offices, and some residences. In reality, it consists of three different buildings, of which only the central element is visible from the square.
The facade, enlivened by a slight projecting offset and divided into three parts, is built in exposed brick, surrounded by two-tone cornices and string courses. The ensemble maintains an effect of simple monumentality, dialoguing with tradition, but also deviates from it thanks to the movement imparted by the elements.
On the same square stands the Church of St. Anthony, commissioned by Mussolini to architect Cesare Bazzani between 1932-1938. The building presents a classicizing facade which, despite its simple harmony, does not lose its monumental character, accentuated by the triumphal arch on the facade and the choice of white marble as the building material.
In keeping with Italian tradition, the portal features bronze bas-reliefs sculpted by Publio Morbiducci.
Hotel Rules
- Check-in: 1:00 PM - 5:00 PM
- Checkout: 11:00 AM
- No Smoking
- No pets
- No parties or events
- Damage to Property
- Not allowed to bring food & beverage