Riccione (; ) is a (municipality) in the Province of Rimini, Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy.
Riccione is centred on the Rio Melo, a minor river that flows into the Adriatic Sea. In the decades following the construction of the Bologna–Ancona railway in 1861, Riccione grew substantially with the development of tourism and the construction of elegant villas in the Liberty Style. It became independent from the municipality of Rimini in 1922, and was further popularised after the Mussolini family bought a seaside villa for its summer holidays. As of 2023, Riccione had an estimated population of 34,514.
Riccione's economy is dependent on tourism, especially catering to young people and families.
Name Riccione's name is of uncertain origin. It first appears as Arcioni in the , a register of investitures of the church in Ravenna in 810–816 AD. Several hypotheses have been advanced for its etymology:
A botanical explanation is offered by the plant Arctium, which would have grown along the banks of the Fontanelle, a minor stream in Riccione's south. From architecture, the name could refer to a fortress from the Latin (stronghold, especially on a hill), or the arches of a Roman aqueduct. It may refer to a saddlebow (), describing the depression of the land between the Rio Melo and the Fontanelle, a resting point for pilgrims on horseback, or referring to the legend of St Martin of Tours, Riccione's patron, dismounting his horse to share his cloak with a pilgrim. It may refer to a Roman "Arcioni" family. Since its modern development, Riccione has been nicknamed (the Green Pearl), a reflection of its greenery and affluent villas.
History
Early history
Riccione's oldest archaeological remains were found in the Villaggio Papini area, and date to 5,000 BC and the Bronze Age.
Following the Roman victory at the Battle of Sentinum in 295 BC, the region became important for the Roman's expansion against the Celts, leading to the foundation of the colonia of (modern Rimini) in 268 BC and the construction of the Via Flaminia, running from Rome to . A Roman settlement in Riccione, officially a vicus, was centred in the area of the present-day San Lorenzo in Strada, where the Via Flaminia turned to a more northerly bearing. Excavations near the present-day pharmacy revealed a necropolis and several buildings, dating to the second century BC. A single-arched Roman bridge over the Rio Melo survives next to the state road. The bridge was restored in the 17th century and used until the 1930s. The Via Flaminia in Riccione was on a climb, requiring additional animals to help transport loaded carts; from ancient times until the arrival of the railway, helping goods cross the area was a profitable local business.
In later centuries, San Lorenzo in Strada was likely depopulated from swamping and incursions during the Gothic Wars. Land grants are recorded in the "Arcioni area" in the in 810-816 AD, while the churches of San Lorenzo in Strada and San Martino in Arcione are first recorded in documents dated to 997 and 1177. The latter church was located on , a hill in the area of the present-day Fontanelle, south of Riccione along an eponymous stream.
In 1260, the area was settled by the Florentine Agolanti family, who were linked to the Malatesta lords of Rimini. The family built a castle on the hills in Riccione's outskirts. A 1371 census records two residential areas, numbering 150 residents. In the 16th century, the main hamlet was known as Le Casette, named after a stream running parallel to the Via Flaminia.
In 1673, after decades of local campaigns, the Papal States approved the building of watchtowers by the Torrente Marano and the Fontanelle to defend from Saracen and Usok pirate raids. On 8 January 1889, Riccione became the site of the shipwrecking of the Dutch Zeepaard sailing ship, which ran aground as it sailed from Venice to Ancona.
The beach was expanded between the 16th and 19th centuries, during which time it was used for rice paddies. Riccione's population numbered 850 at the end of 1700, centred around San Martino.
Post-unification At the time of Italy's unification in 1861, Riccione numbered 1,800 residents. It was a poor area, reliant on subsistence agriculture and, to a lesser extent, fishing. Italy's unification accelerated the construction of the Bologna–Ancona railway, whose section between Rimini and Ancona was inaugurated on 17 November 1861, though Riccione would only have a permanent stop from 1865. The town grew in popularity soon afterwards: affluent Bolognese families constructed elegant residences, which functioned as second homes by the sea.
During the same period, Don Carlo Tonini, the parish priest of San Martino, proposed that the seaside could cure children living in the Po Valley of scrofula. He organised summer holidays for afflicted children, who stayed with host families in Riccione; Tonini would collect them each morning, with farmers providing transport aboard their ox-drawn carts from the town to the seaside along Viale Viola. The holidays were helped by supporting committees in cities across Emilia-Romagna; Riccione's treatments were cheaper than regional alternatives. In 1867, Tonini accommodated 106 children with the help of the Bolognese committee.
At the start of 1872, Riccione numbered 111 families in 76 buildings; a further 213 families in 174 houses were scattered in its countryside. Its total population was 1,940. At this time, Count Giacinto Martinelli, from Santa Colomba, bought of Riccione's seaside, north of the railway between Viale Viola and the present-day Viale Cesare Battisti, which he developed with wide avenues and tree-lined roads, selling plots of land for the construction of villas. In 1877, in partnership with Emilio Amati, Martinelli established Riccione's first marine hospice, which was the second in Romagna for the treatment of scrofulus children after the Matteucci hospice in Rimini. Three other marine hospices followed before the turn of the century, as well as a short-lived hydrotherapy establishment.
Late 19th-century development The first villas were built along Viale Viola in 1884. By 1885, there were up to 12 villas owned by foreign residents. In 1889, a mutual aid company for sailors was founded. Riccione's beaches were developed into bathing resorts with lifeguards following the first state concessions in 1895.
Particularly important to Riccione's development in the late 19th century was the American Maria Boorman Weeler. Her husband, Giovanni Ceccarini, was a doctor from Cantiano; he fought for the Roman Republic, whose fall led him to exile in New York, where he met and married Maria. On their return to Italy, the Ceccarinis bought several properties in Riccione and Scacciano, a village in Misano Adriatico by Riccione's border. Following Giovvani's death in Scacciano in 1888, Maria began a proliferous philanthropic relationship with the area, beginning with a 200 lire donation for its civic library. She donated further funds for an annual winter soup kitchen from 1890, and the construction of a kindergarten (1891), the city's hospital (1892-93), whose generator powered streetlights along Via Flaminia and Viale Viola, and Riccione's port (1901). Maria died on 31 August 1903, leaving a further 650,000 lire in her will for the hospital and a garden. On 11 October 1911, Rimini's municipal council renamed Viale Viola to Viale Maria Ceccarini.
Early 20th century In 1901, Sebastiano Amati inaugurated the city's first hotel in Viale Viola. In 1910, the Teatro Sghedoni was inaugurated; the theatre was later renamed the Kursaal and the Teatro Dante.
In 1905, Amati, Ausonio Franzoni, and Felice Pullè established a society to obtain more services from the municipality of Rimini. In 1910, they presented a petition, signed by the majority of Riccione's residents, for the 's independence from the municipality.
The outbreak of the First World War suspended the independence campaign. Sixty-one names are recorded in the war memorial in Riccione's cemetery. The war caused significant hardship in Riccione: its tourist industry collapsed; an agricultural crisis caused severe inflation and the rationing of flour and bread; and about seventy fishing families were hurt by a regulation that prohibited fishing beyond from the coast. Additionally, because of the strategic importance of the railway, the town was bombed from the sea and sky by the Austrian-Hungarian army, and crossed by many Venetian refugees.
The 1916 Rimini earthquakes razed about 80% of Riccione's buildings. The 16 August earthquake destroyed the church of San Lorenzo in Strada, and the Martinelli-Amati hospice. No fatalities were recorded in Riccione, attributed to the 17 May earthquake. The earthquakes worsened the living conditions of local people, already depressed by the First World War. Unemployment increased considerably. In the exodus to leave Riccione, tourists were leaving their bags at the railway station in the hope that they could shorten their wait to board a train leaving the town.
On 6 April 1921, Rimini's socialist municipal administration endorsed Riccione's request for independence. 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, including in the historic San Lorenzo in Strada. In return for being granted its desired border at the Rio dell'Asse, Minister Aldo Oviglio required Riccione to build a bridge over the Torrente Marano, to allow the completion of the coastal road between Rimini and Riccione. With the border agreed, the Royal Decree 1439 was passed on 19 October 1922 to make Riccione a separate .
Fascist Italy Silvio Lombardini became the first mayor of Riccione following the inaugural municipal elections on 14 October 1923. By then, Riccione had six hotels and three guesthouses.
The bridge over the Torrente Marano was inaugurated on 24 August 1924. A bridge over the Rio Melo followed on 16 August 1925, completing the coastal road between Rimini and Riccione. Using the new bridges, the Rimini–Riccione tramway, the predecessor to the route 11 trolleybus, was extended from Miramare to Riccione on 26 June 1927.
On 15 July 1929, Riccione inaugurated an aqueduct to bring water from Misano Adriatico along an underground pipeline. Prior to its construction, its water was sourced from the springs in the Fontanelle area, which produced non-potable mineralised water, or brought to the area using unhygienic wooden barrels. The aqueduct was inaugurated with the opening of a new seaside fountain at the end of Villa Ceccarini, constructed at the cost of 15,295 lire.
From 1926, Benito Mussolini, Italy's fascist dictator, began to spend summer holidays in Riccione. In July 1934, Rachele Guidi, Mussolini's second wife, purchased a seaside villa for the family's summer holidays. Mussolini would conduct government business from Riccione during his stays and host notable guests: the family of Austrian chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss were guests of the Mussolinis during his assassination in July 1934, and Mussolini learned of Operation Barbarossa during his stay at the villa in June 1941. The villa was guarded by 150 soldiers, reaching 300 during Mussolini's stays. Mussolini would arrive in Riccione aboard a seaplane, and a ship would be stationed off Riccione's coast. In 1940, the villa was renovated and its grounds expanded.