Predappio ( , ; or ) is a (municipality) in the

province of Forlì-Cesena The Province of Forlì-Cesena () is a province in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. Its capitals are the cities of Forlì and Cesena. The province has a population of 394,273 as of 2016 over an area of . It contains 30 '' comuni'' (: ''comu ...

, in the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

region of

Emilia-Romagna Emilia-Romagna (, , both , ; or ; ) is an Regions of Italy, administrative region of northern Italy, comprising the historical regions of Emilia (region), Emilia and Romagna. Its capital is Bologna. It has an area of , and a population of 4.4 m ...

, with a population of 6,135 as of 1 January 2021. The town is best known for being the birthplace of

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who, upon assuming office as Prime Minister of Italy, Prime Minister, became the dictator of Fascist Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 un ...

, founder of the

National Fascist Party The National Fascist Party (, PNF) was a political party in Italy, created by Benito Mussolini as the political expression of Italian fascism and as a reorganisation of the previous Italian Fasces of Combat. The party ruled the Kingdom of It ...

(PNF) and

dictator A dictator is a political leader who possesses absolute Power (social and political), power. A dictatorship is a state ruled by one dictator or by a polity. The word originated as the title of a Roman dictator elected by the Roman Senate to r ...

Fascist Italy Fascist Italy () is a term which is used in historiography to describe the Kingdom of Italy between 1922 and 1943, when Benito Mussolini and the National Fascist Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictatorship. Th ...

from 1922 to 1943. Mussolini is buried in Predappio, and his

mausoleum A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be considered a type o ...

is a local tourist destination, as well as a site of

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a travel, journey to a holy place, which can lead to a personal transformation, after which the pilgrim returns to their daily life. A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) w ...

for

Italian neo-fascists Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

History

From its origins (possibly

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

) until the 1920s, Predappio was a rural town of modest size, situated on the hills of Forlì.

Augustus Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in A ...

divided Italy into eleven provinces and Predappio was within the sixth province. It is believed that the town name derives from the installation in those locations of an ancient Roman family: the ''Appi''. The town was accordingly named ''Praesidium Domini Appi'', abbreviated to ''Pre.DiAppi''. Historically, the town developed around the medieval castle, looking down the valley. Along the valley, about from Predappio, the town was known as ''Dovia'' (probably a corruption of the local

Roman road Roman roads ( ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Republic and the Roman Em ...

''Duo Via'', Two-Way). Benito Mussolini was born in Predappio in 1883. After a

landslide Landslides, also known as landslips, rockslips or rockslides, are several forms of mass wasting that may include a wide range of ground movements, such as rockfalls, mudflows, shallow or deep-seated slope failures and debris flows. Landslides ...

hit the town in the winter of 1923/24 and left many people homeless, the government decided to build a bigger, more prestigious township to celebrate the birthplace of Mussolini, following the architectural dictates of the emerging

. Along with the nearby town of

Forlì Forlì ( ; ; ; ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) and city in Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy, and is, together with Cesena, the capital of the Province of Forlì-Cesena.The city is situated along the Via Emilia, to the east of the Montone river, ...

, Predappio was given the title of ''La Città del

Duce ( , ) is an Italian title, derived from the Latin word , 'leader', and a cognate of ''duke''. National Fascist Party leader Benito Mussolini was identified by Fascists as ('The Leader') of the movement since the birth of the in 1919. In 192 ...

'' ("The City of the Leader"), after the title taken by Mussolini as Italian dictator. Predappio has become a site of

for Italian and other neo-fascists, with this development drawing criticism and protests from anti-fascists. In April 2009, the town council banned the sale of fascist souvenirs. In 2014, Mayor Giorgio Frassineti announced plans to build in the town "a museum dedicated to the history of fascism"."History of fascism museum to open in Mussolini’s town"
by Nick Clark, ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', 25 April 2014 The mayor, who was standing for re-election as a member of the centre-left Democratic Party, stated that the aim of the council's decision was to have people remember a "fundamental piece of

talian Talian may refer to: Places * Talian, Iran, a village in Tehran province, Iran * Dhok Talian, a village in Punjab, Pakistan People * Jozef Talian (born 1985), Slovak footballer Other uses *Talian dialect Talian (, ), or Brazilian Venetian, or ...

history" so that "Predappio would become a place for reflection – cutting the town from the hands of those who want to misuse it." As of early 2016, the museum's construction was still pending, but sale of fascist souvenirs was again permitted in the town. In 2019,

Brothers of Italy Brothers of Italy (, FdI) is a National conservatism, national-conservative and Right-wing populism, right-wing populist political party in Italy, that is currently the country's ruling party. After becoming the largest party in the 2022 Ita ...

-backed Roberto Canali was elected as mayor of Predappio, ending the more than 70 years of left-wing rule in Predappio. On 24 July 2019, Canali announced plans to open Mussolini's crypt to the public all year round. Canali said that he wanted to promote the tomb as a tourist attraction to boost the local economy.

Sister cities

* Breuna, Germany * Kenderes, Hungary

Notable people

(1883–1945), politician and

from 1922 to 1943 * Edvige Mussolini (1888–1952), Benito Mussolini's sister * Rachele Mussolini (1890–1979), Benito Mussolini's wife * Adone Zoli (1887–1960),

Prime Minister of Italy The prime minister of Italy, officially the president of the Council of Ministers (), is the head of government of the Italy, Italian Republic. The office of president of the Council of Ministers is established by articles 92–96 of the Co ...

* Benito Partisani (1906–1969), artist * Pino Romualdi (1913–1988), politician and journalist * Ivano Nicolucci (1930–2002), musician * Andrea Emiliani (1931), art historian * Vittorio Emiliani (1935), politician and journalist * Gilberto Cappelli (1952), composer and painter * Marino Amadori (1957), cyclist * Giorgio Canali (1958), musician and singer * Chiara Condello (fl 2016), winemaker

References

External links

Official website

{{Authority control Benito Mussolini