User:IgnatiusofLondon/Space 2

= Piazza Cavour, Rimini =

Piazza Cavour is a public square in the city of Rimini, in the region of Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy.

The square lies at the intersection of Via Gambalunga with the Corso d'Augusto, Rimini's principal street and the ancient Roman decumanus maximus.

History
The square may stand on the site of a late Roman forum in Rimini. It assumed a primary role in the city from the Middle Ages, when it was Rimini's primary town square, hosting the fish and vegetable market. By the mid-1830s, the square was known as Piazza della Fontana or Piazza del Fonte. Since the end of the 16th century, Rimini's public ovens were sited at the end of Piazza Cavour,  now replaced by the Amintore Galli Theatre, which was constructed between 1843 and 1857.

A municipal council motion in March 1913 added regulations to a small market in Piazza Cavour, which was reserved to "spectacle sellers, trinket sellers, umbrella sellers, booksellers, and postcard vendors". According to the new regulations, the market would only be permitted during three summer months. 

Several buildings in the square were damaged by the 1916 Rimini earthquakes. The reconstruction between 1919 and 1925 remodelled buildings in a neo-medieval style. On 21 September 1924, Benito Mussolini's first visit to Rimini as Italy's fascist dictator, in honour of the poet Giovanni Pascoli, culminated with a speech delivered from the balcony of the city hall to crowds who had assembled in Piazza Cavour. 

During the Second World War, Rimini's branch of the National Liberation Committee (CLN) was founded at a hotel on Piazza Cavour, moving after a week to a restaurant adjacent to the Vecchia Pescheria. To some irony, Rimini fascio had been founded at the Vecchia Pescheria on 24 March 1921. The local CLN headquarters later moved to Villa Verrucchio.

Features and buildings
Piazza Cavour contains shops and cafés on one side, while the other contains historical buildings. The city's fish and vegetable market is still organised in the square.

Fontana della Pigna
It used to be the only source of drinking water in the city. The fountain was praised by Leonardo da Vinci on his visit to Rimini in August 1502. It was originally topped with a statue of St Paul, replaced in the 19th century by a pine cone, leading to its present name.

Statue of Pope Paul V
The bronze statue of Pope Paul V in Piazza Cavour was sculpted by Nicolas Cordier and Sebastian Sebastiani between 1611 and 1614.

In 1797, to save it from destruction by the Cisalpine Republic, the monument was modified to resemble Gaudentius of Rimini. The papal triregnum was swapped for a bishop's mitre, with the statue holding a crosier in its left hand and the palm of its right hand open. After the Rimini earthquake on 17 May 1916, Il Resto del Carlino reported: "The bronze statue of S. Gaudenzo in Piazza Cavour has moved from its base and the crosier has broken".

The sculpture was restored to its original appearance by sculptor Filogenio Fabbri in 1939, restoring the three fingers of the right hand raised in an act of blessing, and the keys to the city in the left hand. Restoration in the winter of 2003–04 discovered that the triregnum had been engraved with 'Year XVI of the Fascist Era'.

Palazzo Garampi
To make room for the palace, an adjacent church dedicated to St Sylvester was demolished.

Palazzo dell'Arengo
The building was built in 1204. The municipal council met on the first floor, while the judiciary occupied the ground floor.

Palazzo del Podestà
On 9 September 1972, the building became home to the Museum of Primitive Arts (Museo delle Arti Primitivi), inaugurated by explorer Delfino Dinz Rialto. The museum, now known as the Museum of Glances (Museo degli Sguardi), later moved to Villa Alvarado on the Covignano hill. It is one of Italy's main museums on the cultures of Africa, Oceania, and the pre-Columbian Americas.

Amintore Galli Theatre
Inaugurated as the New Municipal Theatre (Italian: Teatro Nuovo Comunale) on 11 July 1857, the Amintore Galli Theatre was designed by Luigi Poletti, and is considered one of his architectural masterpieces, marking the transition from the purist neoclassical school of his training. Notably, the theatre hosted the world premiere of Giuseppe Verdi's Aroldo on 16 August 1857. It was renovated after being damaged by the 1916 Rimini earthquakes, and flourished in Fascist Italy following its reopening in 1923. During the Second World War, the theatre was severely damaged by Allied bombardment. In 1947, the semi-destroyed theatre was renamed after Amintore Galli, a Valmarecchian music journalist and composer. Following a complete restoration in the 2010s, the Galli Theatre reopened on 28 October 2018.

The theatre is managed directly by Rimini's municipal government, and hosts musical events and cultural festivals, such as the Sagra Musicale Malatestiana. The theatre's atrium is also used for weddings. The theatre can accommodate 800 spectators in its three tiers of boxes and gallery.

Vecchia Pescheria
Built in 1747, the portico of the Vecchia Pescheria housed Rimini's fish market, with benches of Istrian stone where fish caught by local boats would be sold. It was designed by Francesco Buonamici.

On 24 March 1921, the Vecchia Pescheria hosted the inaugural foundation of the Rimini fascio.