Video Guide for Palazzo Varano - Predappio

You can put this video on your website by simply copying and placing the following embed code on your page:

There’s little known about Palazzo Varano except for when it was home to poor people in the 1800s, an elementary school and the family residence of the dictator Mussolini. Major work by Florestano Di Fausto changed it in 1926. He also added monumental steps which reveal a clever symbolic element. Fascio symbols also present in Sala Consigliare.

Travel Video Tags for Palazzo Varano:

Florestano Di Fausto , Scalea D’Accesso , Rosa Maltoni , Sala Consigliare , Fascio , municipality ,

Some of our other Video Guides for Predappio

• Piazza Cavour
• Basilica di Sant’ Antonio da Padova
• Castello di Predappio Alta
• La Vecia Cantena d’la Pre
• Asilo e Oratorio di Santa Rosa
• Casa Natale Mussolini
• Pieve e Cimitero di San Cassiano
• Oratorio della Maestà

Palazzo Varano Travel Video - Audio Transcript

Palazzo Varano

This exquisite façade of Palazzo Varano only dates to between 1926-1927 when Florestano Di Fausto restructured the whole building.

Access to it is via this remarkable stairway at the foot of the hill also designed by him. Referred to as the ‘Scalea D’Accesso’ the idea behind the design was to connect the crossing between the two main roads and Palazzo Varano (incidentally, an experiment which had already been tested with the monumental steps that once led to the house where Mussolini was born and Piazza Garibaldi).

            At street level there is a simple fountain with symmetrical steps on either side leading up to a trapezoidal shaped rest area. From this exact location the Scalea gets more interesting because Di Fausto introduced a subtle design not particularly obvious to the uninformed visitor.

            The tall structure on the horizon is Rocca delle Caminate. By moving back and up a few steps it’s now possible to see that the design of this Scalea is in fact a large arrow pointing towards the Rocca – a symbolic gesture no less since this was in fact the private summer residence of Benito Mussolini.

            Up another level of the steps is this large metal cage displaying a model of a bird inside. This was home to a golden eagle, the symbol of the Roman World later adopted by the fascists to reflect their own rise to power. Actually, there were initially two eagles but one died quite early on.

            Palazzo Varano is currently the seat of the local municipality of Predappio although this was not always the case.  Strangely, the only known fact about this building is the Roman origin of its name. It was also quite plain looking too and originally resembled the square style of Mussolini’s first home.

            In the 1800s the building was known to house poor people until it was eventually transformed into an elementary school where Rosa Maltoni – the mother of Mussolini – taught for some time. After the birth of Benito the family moved here and lived in the palazzo for twenty years.

            After the renovation by Di Fausto it became the town hall whereupon the furniture was donated by ‘Il Duce’ himself.

This room which is upstairs is called the Sala Consigliare. It’s the main room where official functions and events are held. Noticeable remnants of its notorious links to the fascist period here remains to be seen in the corner. ‘Fascio’ symbols and iconography of this area used to decorate the whole room but now only kept as a mere reminder for the sake of history.

References

Il Paese di Mussolini, storia architettura città, La Romagna del Duce in cartolina, Forlì, 2003, pp104-105.

http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palazzo_Varano_(Predappio)

Categories: Architectural | Art | Business | Castles | Educational | Historical | Leisure | Monuments | Museums | Political | Religious |