Predappio Video Guides
Via Lucchina, 27 - Tel. 0543 940 860 - In the Predappio hills is Condé vineyard built on an estate covering 92 hectares. Founded by Francesco Condello in 2001 and assisted by winemaker Federico Curtaz, they aim to produce high quality wines. Surrounded in natural beauty, the grounds boast a restaurant, osteria, shop and swimming pool, where tradition meets modern style and class.
Casa Natale Mussolini was a simple rural building where the Mussolini family lived in for a few years. The commune of Predappio restored it to host exhibitions. Florestano Di Fausto designed the square in front of the house with grand steps up to it but Mussolini had them demolished. A copper bust in the attic is the only fascist mark left here.
Built by the architect Cesare Bazzani and inaugurated 27th of October 1934. The Franciscan Brotherhood took control of it. Mussolini and his wife visited it under construction. Art work is limited but some interesting bronze sculptures by Publio Morbiducci. Some of the designs and decorations were inspired by the Masonic world and esoteric culture.
Di Fausto enlarged the Cimitero di San Cassiano in 1939 according to Mussolini who wanted his family buried in the same location. The mausoleum to him receives 100,000 visitors per year. The crypt is surprisingly modest. Between 1930-1934 Icchia and Corsini restored the church of San Cassiano in Pennino dating to the 1200s in the same grounds.
Piazza Cavour is the center of this quaint village. The road passing through it was for many centuries the main route into Forlì from this direction. A fountain in the middle of the square was commissioned in 1927 by Arnaldo Mussolini to celebrate the region’s famous wine making tradition. In the evenings locals gather round it speaking in dialect.
Predappio Castle was erected 1292 by Giovanni d’Appia who obtained the feudal stronghold from Pope Martino IV for helping bringing Forlì back under church control. Over time it was taken over by aristocratic families: Calboli, Ordelaffi, Orgogliosi and fought over between the Guelfe forces and Ghibellini. Astonishing views from the top.
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.
Built by Florestano di Fausto between 1925-1928, the Aislo e Oratorio di Santa Rosa was meant to be the parish church of Predappio. The small oratory and kinder garden annexed onto it hosts two valuable works of art: ‘Madonna del Fascio’ and ‘Madonna del Libro’. Artists and sculptors created other magnificent works in this cosy little atmosphere.
La Vecia Cantena d’la Prè, an enoteca established 1976, is run by Barbara Lucchi and husband Riccardo Menghi. Located in the medieval village of Predappio Alta, this renowned enoteca hides an even greater piece of history in its cellars. Sangiovese wine making started here in the 14th century. A museum in the cellars reveals a little of this past.
About Predappio
Predappio is a small town in the province of Forlì-Cesena. It’s best known for being the birthplace of Benito Mussolini, dictator of Italy, who is also buried at Predappio. His mausoleum is a local tourist destination, as well as a site of pilgrimage for Neo-Fascists. The architecture of the town is a typical throw back to those fascist days.