The Rimini Riviera is a land of artists and visionaries, a place where creativity has been expressed through the words of writers, the strokes of painters’ brushes, and the indelible traces left by the most famous contemporary writers.
Here, between the sea and the hills, the stories of men and women who have told, painted and interpreted the soul of the territory intertwine.
Our journey begins in Bellaria, where Alfredo Panzini’s red house takes us back in time. But the coastal town is not just a literary memory: Street Art has found a space here, thanks to the “Bim Street Art Festival”.
Continuing on towards Talamello, the village welcomes us with the timeless works of Giovanni da Rimini and Antonio Alberti; then we are enchanted by the canvases of Fernando Gualtieri, a master of painting who chose to leave his artistic heritage right here.
In Santarcangelo di Romagna, the poetry of Tonino Guerra coexists with the captivating power of Eron's Street Art.
The last stop takes us to Pennabilli, where art becomes an immersive experience thanks to the Luoghi dell’Anima, a unique route that blends sculpture, nature and poetry.
Bellaria is the northernmost seaside town on the Rimini Riviera, famous for its beaches, environmental quality and hospitality. But in addition to its seaside vocation, this village is home to a literary gem: the Casa Rossa, one of the most beloved residences of the writer and journalist Alfredo Panzini.
Author of La Lanterna di Diogene (Diogene’s Lantern), a fascinating travel reportage by bicycle from Milan to Bellaria, Panzini found inspiration for many of his works in this home. Today, the Casa Rossa is a true literary museum, where you can discover ceramics set into the walls with the titles of his most famous works and admire the historic bicycle on which the writer explored his beloved Romagna. Open every day in the summer, during other periods of the year, you can book a free guided tour.
From the 19th-century literary charm of Panzini, let's jump to the present day to discover another face of the town: Street Art. In 2001, the Bim Street Art Festival – I muri che non ti aspetti (The walls you don't expect) ([add link to ERT event]) turned the town into an open-air art gallery, with murals that tell contemporary stories and visions.
If you love Street Art, you must absolutely not miss a tour of the most iconic murals in the town:
The gateway to the Val Marecchia, Santarcangelo di Romagna is a town with a strong Romagna identity: its tuff caves, culinary traditions and timeless atmosphere make it a unique place where history meets art in a perfect fusion.
The alleys and squares here reverberate with the poetry of Tonino Guerra, who has left an indelible mark in some of the area’s most iconic and fascinating places thanks to his artistic installations, ceramic works and poems engraved on the walls of the houses.
To immerse yourself in his world, you can visit some of the symbolic places of his art, where the dialogue between words and matter comes to life:
However, Santarcangelo di Romagna also boasts another record: it is an authentic open-air canvas, thanks to the works of Eron, one of the most famous internationally-known street artists.
His works dialogue with the urban fabric and the history of the hamlet: walking through the streets of Santarcangelo, it is possible to admire some of his most famous creations:
- The letter of a partisan condemned to death, written for his mother → The grief of a mother who holds back her tears while reading the letter emerges from the suction nozzle located a few metres from the painting.
- Don’t Cry” → above a beautiful fireplace, a father appears in a consoling gesture.
- “Guido Cagnacci is Gone” → a reflection on the history of art and cultural memory.
In short, with its poetry and urban art, Santarcangelo di Romagna is an emotional journey that unites the written word, painting and history. Here, amidst the verses of Tonino Guerra and the brush strokes of Eron, the visitor discovers a village capable of telling its story through art, turning every corner into a visual narrative.
From Santarcangelo, going further inland, we arrive at Talamello, a small medieval village in the heart of Montefeltro, a cosy place, amidst luxuriant nature and rich in authentic art treasures. Ready for another journey back in time?
We start from the Church of San Lorenzo, located in the main square of the hamlet. Here is kept a precious fourteenth-century Crucifix, a masterpiece by Giovanni da Rimini, recently restored. For a long time attributed to Giotto, this cross is today recognised as the oldest among the works of Giovanni da Rimini, an expression of the 14th-century Rimini school. Continuing on, we are catapulted into the 15th century, when the bishop Giovanni Seclani commissioned the construction of an extraordinary votive chapel, known as the Cella (1437). Here, on just a few square metres, the painter Antonio Alberti da Ferrara, one of the most famous painters of the time, created a cycle of frescoes that narrate the history of the Church in one of the most refined examples of late Gothic painting. The minute details, the liveliness of the colours and the depth of the scenes make this chapel a small gem of sacred art.
A few steps away, another awe-inspiring wonder awaits visitors: the Gualtieri Museum, a place where art becomes emotion. Collected here are the complete works of Fernando Gualtieri, a master of painting, defined as the “painter of light”.
His mother was born in Talamello, and so he decided to donate his extraordinary collection of paintings, made between 1956 and 2013, to his homeland. Today, his canvases are exhibited in a strikingly picturesque place: the former medieval church of Sant'Antonio Abate, transformed into a light-flooded art gallery. Here, amidst a play of reflections and crystalline transparencies, you can admire works that have enchanted the world for their ability to capture light and give it an almost magical dimension.
The journey ends in Pennabilli, an enchanted village that encompasses art, poetry and memory among its streets and breathtaking views. Here, Maestro Guerra left a unique legacy: the Luoghi dell'Anima (Places of the Soul), an open-air museum that runs through the entire village and the Marecchia Valley.
Here, we also find the smallest museum in the world, a unique place in the world, a small treasure chest that houses only one painting. We are talking about the work “L’angelo coi Baffi” (The Angel with a Moustache), a painting by the Milanese artist Luigi Poiaghi, inspired by a short story by Tonino Guerra, depicted on the walls of the chapel.
It is a small but powerful work of art that is an invitation to believe in your dreams, even those that seem unattainable. The angel painted by Poiaghi, with his unusual moustache and his enigmatic gaze, seems to whisper to us that nothing is truly impossible, that any desire can actually take its course if we truly believe in it.
Pennabilli is not only the final stop on this tour, but an emotional experience. Here, art and poetry merge with the landscape, inviting visitors to look at the world in a fresh new way, just like Tonino Guerra did.
