Miramare di Rimini, more commonly known simply as Miramare, is the southernmost suburb and of the city of Rimini, Italy. Situated on the Adriatic coast, the seaside resort lies southeast of Rimini's city centre and borders the municipality of Riccione.

Located on the Via Flaminia, now the state road, Miramare developed as a tourist destination from the early 20th century. As well as the beaches on its coastline, the suburb's recreational facilities include and Altromondo Studios, among Italy's earliest amusement parks and nightclubs respectively.

The suburb is served by a minor station on the Bologna–Ancona railway, and includes Federico Fellini International Airport, the principal airport for the province of Rimini and the Republic of San Marino.

Overview Miramare is the southernmost suburb and of Rimini, and is located roughly equidistant between the city centres of Rimini and Riccione. Miramare is bounded to the north by Rivazzurra and to the south by the Rio dell'Asse, a minor stream that forms Rimini's boundary with Riccione. The Adriatic Sea bounds Miramare to the east, and Federico Fellini International Airport bounds it to the west.

The suburb roughly follows a grid plan. The Bologna–Ancona railway splits the suburb into a western residential half and an eastern touristic half by the coast. The major north–south roads are, in the western half, the state road and Viale Parigi/Viale Losanna, and then, after the railway, Viale Guglielmo Marconi and Viale Principe di Piemonte, which is the principal seafront avenue. The major east–west roads are Viale Ivo Oliveti, Viale Costantinopoli/Viale Giacinto Martinelli and Via Cavalieri di Vittorio Veneto. The latter two roads pass underneath the railway, while Viale Ivo Oliveti is the main shopping street and is pedestrianised in the eastern half.

The suburb is a popular tourist destination, domestically and internationally. As well as hotels, there are inexpensive hostels and camping grounds, popular among young travellers. The suburb's recreational facilities include shops, restaurants, bars, nightclubs, go-kart tracks, beachside sports courts, and arcades. Particularly noteworthy is the Altro Mondo Studios nightclub.

History

Roman era The site of the present-day Miramare is located on the Via Flaminia, a Roman road constructed by Gaius Flaminius during his censorship in 220 BCE. The Via Flaminia was the main artery from Rome leading north of the Apennines and to the Adriatic Sea. Miramare was three Roman miles south of the road's northern end in Ariminum (Rimini). Even in the 20th century, the neighbourhood was sometimes nicknamed (The Third). A milestone in Miramare dates to the road's construction. In 2013, excavations for a pedestrian underpass next to it uncovered a section of the Via Flaminia, which was between and wide.

Modern development Settlement in Miramare began in the early 20th century as the beaches of Rimini and Riccione began to attract tourists. In the late eighteenth century, Sebastiano Amati, a businessman and councillor who would play a pivotal role in Riccione's expansion and independence from Rimini, proposed the idea of a coastal road linking Rimini and Riccione.

By 1905, the development and settlement of Miramare began; the modern hospital was constructed north of Miramare, and numerous hotels were built along the coast between Rimini and Riccione.

In 1921, Domenico Masi, a priest from San Clemente, began ministering to the nascent settlement at Miramare. Masi built a church, orphanage, carpentry shop, tile factory, and several retreat houses. In July 1925, the matron to whom Masi entrusted the orphanage was recalled, and so on 8 December 1925, the orphanage came under the care of a new religious institute founded in Miramare, the . Miramare remains the motherhouse of the Sisters of the Immaculate, who regard Masi as their founder and also run a seaside retreat home, kindergarten, and nursing clinic in the neighbourhood. Viale Don Domenico Masi, which houses the motherhouse, is named after Masi; it is the next street north of Viale Ivo Oliveti, to which it runs parallel. In 2012, there were 200 Sisters of the Immaculate across twenty-two houses in Italy, Venezuela, Paraguay, the Philippines, and Indonesia.

In 1923, Miramare became the border of the Municipality of Rimini after Riccione was made an independent municipality. The border between the was established at the Rio dell'Asse; Rimini had unsuccessfully proposed that the border be further south at the Torrente Marano, to the disapproval of residents residing between the Rio dell'Asse and the Torrente Marano.

In 1925, a tramway from Rimini was extended to Miramare. The tramway was extended further south to Riccione in 1927, after a carriageable bridge was built over the Torrente Marano in 1924. The tramway was converted into a trolleybus line, the present-day route 11, in July 1939. On 17 August 1929, the first passenger flight landed at the aerodome west of Miramare, which would later become Federico Fellini International Airport. Miramare developed as a tourist destination during the 1930s, including with the construction of two . Relative to other seaside resorts in Rimini, Miramare was notable for its peace, tranquility, and greenery.

During the Battle of Rimini in the Second World War, German forces defended the aerodome with Panther turrets, barring Allied forces from advancing further up the Gothic Line along the end of the Via Flaminia. The 3rd Greek Mountain Brigade and the 18th New Zealand Armoured Regiment engaged the airport, whose defence and capture was central to the Battle of Rimini. After its capture, the airfield returned to its use as a prisoner-of-war camp, housing up to 80,000 Axis forces. The camp was lightly surveilled and both prostitution and escape were rife. Erich Priebke, a perpetrator of the Ardeatine massacre, was a notable escapee. Between 1956 and 2010, the airfield was the home of the of the Italian Air Force, and during the Cold War, it was identified by the Warsaw Pact as a strategic target in the event of an all-out war, housing several thousand Italian and NATO soldiers and thirty B61 nuclear bombs. Helicopters belonging to the 7th Army Aviation Regiment "Vega" remain at the airport.

In 2003, voters in a municipal referendum approved plans to build Rimini's new Palacongressi on Miramare's border. The conference space was eventually built on Via Monte Titano just outside the city centre, on the site of the old Rimini Fiera.

Main sights

Religious buildings

Lourdes Grotto: In 1962, two years before his death, Masi opened a lifesize reproduction of the Lourdes grotto in Miramare. The grotto is opposite the motherhouse of the . Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus: In 1966, the parish church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus was opened on Viale Guglielmo Marconi. Miramare had been designated as a curacy from 1955, but the motherhouse of the Sisters of the Immaculate had provided the only, and increasingly crowded, place of worship in the suburb for the preceding forty years.

Fascist colonies Two were built in Miramare in the early 1930s, at a time when the coastline of the was developed by Benito Mussolini, himself from Romagna. Several other colonies were built along the principal seafront avenue between Rimini and Riccione in the 1930s; the Mussolini family itself bought a summer villa in Riccione in 1934. The colonies were summer recreational facilities for children and adolescents. In Miramare, the colonies were built almost opposite each other on Viale Principe di Piemonte, the Bolognese Colony on the coastal side and the Novarese Colony on the other side of the road.

The Bolognese Colony was built between 1931 and 1932 to the design of . During the Second World War, the Bolognese Colony was used to house refugee children from Albania and Libya, as a military hospital for veterans from Operation Barbarossa, a woman's internment camp, and an Allied prisoner-of-war camp. It reopened for children's summer camps after the Second World War. In 2022, the Bolognese Colony was bought by an investor intending to refurbish it into a hotel. The music video to La dolce vita, a pop single by Fedez, Tananai and Mara Sattei that topped the Italian charts in 2022, was filmed outside the Bolognese Colony. The Novarese Colony was built between 1933 and 1934 to the design of Giuseppe Peverelli. During the Second World War, the Novarese Colony was used as a military hospital and centre of military command. It reopened for children's summer camps, but after being deemed unsafe, having never been fully restored from the war damage, the Novarese Colony was converted into a camping site in 1959, remaining in use until 1975.

Attractions and landmarks

: At Miramare's northern border with Rivazzurra, Fiabilandia was opened in 1965 in experimental and temporary form as one of Italy's first theme parks, alongside in Perugia (opened 1963) and in Naples (opened 1965). The inspiration came from a businessman in Riccione, who though that the abandoned gravel pit could be transformed into an amusement park. The original fairground consisted of a few simple rides, and considered by Rimini's locals as an Americanisation of the seaside resort. The park grew under the directorship of Oriano Bizzocchi from 1974 to 1987, who took inspiration from Disney parks to add rides and rollercoasters. After reaching a peak of 500,000 visitors in 1987, the park began a slow decline, continuing for most of the 1990s. Part of the decline is attributable to the opening of Mirabilandia, Italy's largest amusement park, in Ravenna in 1992. The park survived a threat of closure in 2012. The park's area measures , and its car park was the first in Europe to be entirely covered with solar panels. Riminiterme: In the 1970s, a thalassotherapy centre was established opposite the Novarese Colony on Viale Principe di Piemonte; in 2000, it was restructured and renamed as Riminiterme. The centre includes four swimming pools and a large gym. Altromondo Studios: Located on the Via Flaminia, the nightclub was founded by Gilberto Amati in 1967. Its direction was assumed by Piero Bevitori and Guerrino Galli in 1972, whose families still own the nightclub. Altromondo was the most prominent of a series of nightclubs in Rimini and Riccione, and among the first large nightclubs in Italy, with the discjockey booth above the dance floor. Past performers at the club include Ray Charles, James Brown, Premiata Forneria Marconi, Banco del Mutuo Soccorso, The Creatures and The Rockets. Stronz d'Urland: A milestone along the Via Flaminia in Miramare marks the third mile away from Rimini. The structure is known in Romagnol as the (Italian: ; lit.: Roland's turd). The moniker comes from the size and shape of the milestone, imagining that the legendary Carolingian knight of Ludovico Ariosto's Orlando Furioso (1516), needing to relieve himself on his travels, deposited a turd on the side of the road. Several poems document the legend; in one, written in Romagnol, a man explains the moniker to his disbelieving grandson:

Transport

Railway station

Rimini Miramare railway station (Italian: ) is a minor station on the Bologna–Ancona railway. The station is accessed from Viale Ivo Oliveti east of the tracks; a pedestrian underpass allows passengers to cross to the road's western continuation. In 2019, the station had an average weekday passenger entry and exit total of 1,020 in July and 203 in November.

As of February 2024, the station is served by regional and fast regional () trains, typically running between Ancona and Bologna Centrale or Piacenza. More trains stop at Rimini railway station, the next station northbound, and Riccione railway station, the next station southbound.

Aviation