Cattolica (; ) is a town and ''

comune A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the City status in Italy, titl ...

'' in the

Province of Rimini The province of Rimini () is the southernmost Provinces of Italy, province of the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Rimini, one of the "seven sisters" of the historical region of Romagna. The province borders the Adriat ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, with 16,233 inhabitants as of 2007.

History

Archaeological excavations show that the area was already settled in Roman times. According to one legend, Cattolica received its name after Gaudentius of Rimini, with seventeen other bishops, retreated to the settlement during the closing stages of the Council of Ariminum, before Gaudentius' martyrdom. Cattolica rose as a resting place for pilgrims who traveled the Bologna-Ancona-Rome route, on their way to the sanctuary of Loreto or to St. Peter's in Rome. In 1500, it counted more than twenty taverns and inns. Under the

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy (, ) was a unitary state that existed from 17 March 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 10 June 1946, when the monarchy wa ...

, on 5 December 1895, Cattolica gained municipal autonomy; it was previously a village within the jurisdiction of the municipality of San Giovanni. Only from the second half of the 19th century did the fishing industry became relevant in the economy of the town. One of the first notable visitors to Cattolica's beach was Lucien Bonaparte, brother of the French Emperor, who preferred it to noisy Rimini, in 1823. The town became an independent commune in 1896. After the end of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

the tourism industry became predominant.

Main sights

*Church of San Apollinare (13th century) *''Torre Malatestiana'' ( Malatesta tower) (1490) *'' Museo della Regina di Cattolica'' archaeological museum *S. Croce Gallery (16th century) *Watchtower (now included in a closed disco) *''Le Navi'',

Aquarium of Cattolica The Aquarium of Cattolica is the second largest public aquarium in Italy. It is located in Cattolica on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic coast. It was inaugurated in 2000. Key features The aquarium has a summer camp for the children of Italians who fo ...

People

Cesare Pronti Cesare Pronti (November 30, 1626 – October 22, 1708) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, active mainly near Ravenna. Biography He was born at Cattolica, near Rimini, and was brought up at Bologna, training in that city under ...

(1626–1708),

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

* Emilio Filippini (1870–1938),

* Guido Morganti (1891–1954),

Righteous Among the Nations Righteous Among the Nations ( ) is a title used by Yad Vashem to describe people who, for various reasons, made an effort to assist victims, mostly Jews, who were being persecuted and exterminated by Nazi Germany, Fascist Romania, Fascist Italy, ...

* Egidio Renzi (1900–1944), martyr of Fosse Ardeatine * Domenico Rasi (1924–1944), patriot * Vanzio Spinelli (1924–1944), patriot * Giuseppe Ricci,(1890-1972) politician * Enrico Molari,

motorcycle racer The motorcycle sport of racing (also called moto racing and motorbike racing) includes motorcycle road racing and off-road racing, both either on circuits or open courses, and track racing. Other categories include hill climbs, drag racing and ...

* Giovanna Filippini, politician * Eraldo Pecci, (1955) footballer * Alberta Ferretti (1950), fashion designer * Umberto Paolucci (1944), Director of

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...

Europe * Vincenzo Cecchini (1934), painter * Samuele Bersani (1970), singer * Guido Paolucci (1932-2006), doctor * Gianluca Magi, writer *

Marco Simoncelli Marco Simoncelli (; 20 January 198723 October 2011), nicknamed Sic (), was an Italian professional Motorcycle racing, motorcycle racer. He competed in the Grand Prix motorcycle racing, MotoGP World Championship for 10 years from 2002 to 2011. He ...

(1987–2011),

* Giampiero Ticchi (1959), basketball coach * Andrea Cinciarini, basketball player * Luca Leardini, pilot * Niccolò Antonelli, motorcycle racer * Mauro Piani (1959), yachtsman Azzurra * Andrea Migno, motorcycle racer * Riccardo Raffaelli, Public figure

International relations

Cattolica is twinned with: *

Cortina d'Ampezzo Cortina d'Ampezzo (; , ; historical ) sometimes abbreviated to simply Cortina, is a town and ''comune'' in the heart of the southern (Dolomites, Dolomitic) Alps in the province of Belluno, in the Veneto region of Northern Italy. Situated on the ...

* Hodonín,

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

Saint-Dié-des-Vosges Saint-Dié-des-Vosges (; , before 1999: ''Saint-Dié'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Vosges department, Grand Est, northeastern France. It is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the department. Geography Saint-Dié is locat ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

* Faches-Thumesnil,

Debrecen Debrecen ( ; ; ; ) is Hungary's cities of Hungary, second-largest city, after Budapest, the regional centre of the Northern Great Plain Regions of Hungary, region and the seat of Hajdú-Bihar County. A city with county rights, it was the large ...

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

Events

* The feast of Stella Maris: fishing vessels and vongolaie leads in the midst of the sea, the statue of the

Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

"Stella Maris", after a religious procession. * The Festival of the flowers: since 1950s, Cattolica hosts a show of

flower Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

markets with many stalls along the streets of the city. * The Pink Night, celebrated in town along the coast from Cattolica to Bellaria. It is a festival which is celebrated in June–July and is quite recent: the opportunity for all the shops, bars and restaurants adorn the premises of pink, with dancing to the beach and dive into the sea at midnight. * The Fair of the ancient flavors of land and sea, with local

wine tasting Wine tasting is the sensory examination and evaluation of wine. While the practice of wine tasting is as ancient as its production, a more formalized methodology has slowly become established from the 14th century onward. Modern, professional w ...

acoompagnate animations and concerts. *International Mystery Film Festival of Cattolica (known in Italian as ''Festival internazionale del giallo e del mistero di Cattolica'' but internationally mostly known by its commonly used abbreviation "MystFest" ( it).

Languages and dialects

In addition to Italian, in Cattolica a local variant of the Romagnolo dialect is spoken. Even if it's located right next to Marche, this is not considered a border area from a linguistic point of view, since the dialect spoken across the border is classified within the Emilia-Romagna continuum.

Theatre

The "Teatro della Regina" offers a full season of performances with many different genres during the year. Also in Snaporaz cinema theatre shows and artistic performances are held.

References

External links

Official website

{{Authority control Cities and towns in Emilia-Romagna Towers in Italy