Italia In Miniatura

Italia in Miniatura () is a miniature park in Viserba, a of Rimini in the region of Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy.

Opened on 4 July 1970, Italia in Miniatura is Italy's fourth-oldest theme park, and attracts 500,000 visitors per year. It features 273 polyurethane models over an outdoor area of . As well as Italian monuments, the models include European landmarks and geographic features such as mountains and volcanoes. A 1:5 reproduction of 119 buildings in Venice can be traversed with a Gondola, gondola ride along the Grand Canal (Venice), Grand Canal. Other attractions include a driving school, a suspended monorail, interactive spaces dedicated to science education, a parrot aviary, Hot air balloon, hot air balloons, a Log flume (ride), log flume, and a Pinocchio-themed train ride.

The park is located on the State highways (Italy), state road between Rimini and Ravenna, on the ancient Via Popilia. It occasionally hosts evenings with late closing hours in the summer. The park is owned by Costa Edutainment SpA, who also own the Aquarium of Cattolica and the water park in Riccione.

History

The miniature park was founded by Ivo Rambaldi, a plumber from Ravenna. After visiting , a miniature park near Lugano, Switzerland, in 1968, Rambaldi was inspired to create an Italian counterpart; he documented his visit on film and began working on the park in his home garage with Sergio Fabbri, his brother-in-law and a modelmaker, and Paolo, his son and a student at an institute of Surveying, surveyors. Rambaldi travelled to visit and measure monuments, taking over 6,200 photographs. The first models were monuments from Ravenna: Tomb of Dante, the Capanno Garibaldi, and Sant'Apollinare in Classe, which Rambaldi modelled five times. As the project grew, the workshop moved to a warehouse of Rambaldi's elder brother, Anselmo, and reached sixteen craftsmen. The partners decided to site the park in Viserba for its convenience to the State highways (Italy), state road, having previously considered sites near the Strada statale 72 di San Marino, SS72 state road to San Marino and a site adjacent to the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, Misano World Circuit. The park cost 300 million Italian lira, lire to build.

Italia in Miniatura opened on 4 July 1970; its inauguration was notable for its rain. It was the fourth theme park to open in Italy after Perugia's , Naples' (1965), and (1966), also in Rimini. Local residents saw the attraction as part of the 1960s Americanisation of the seaside resort. At the time of its inauguration, it numbered between 49 and 61 models, many of monuments from Emilia-Romagna, over an outdoor area of .

In May 2012, a Sammarinese association suggested that the park could move to a state-owned agricultural area in Cinque Vie, citing the park's continued threat to relocate from Viserba given its difficulties in acquiring adjacent land.

In March 2014, Costa Edutainment SpA rented the park from the Rambaldi family, with the option to purchase the park after two years, in a deal valued at between and . Costa had already acquired the Aquarium of Cattolica in 2000 and in Riccione in 2013. On 15 April 2015, the previous management company was declared Bankruptcy, bankrupt after accumulating liabilities exceeding . Its directors were investigated by the Guardia di Finanza for diverting over away from creditors, and were acquitted by the Court of Forlì on 24 April 2019.

The park was renovated between 2018 and 2021, at a cost of , featuring new attractions ''Esperimenta'', ''Pinocchio'' and ''Pappamondo'', and a new entrance with fountains and a statue of a child that is tall.

On 6 August 2021, to celebrate its fiftieth anniversary, the park offered free entry to 1,000 Riminese residents. Among its guests were Stefano Bonaccini, President of Emilia-Romagna, senators and Sergio Romagnoli, poet Beppe Costa, and media personalities and Kledi Kadiu, Kleidi Kadiu.

Features

The park's grounds include 10,000 plants, half of which are real miniature trees. Its canals are filled with of water. Eighteen model trains operate in the park.

Italia in Miniatura features three restaurants and several kiosks for snacks and ice creams, as well as a picnic area.

Models

The park consists of 273 miniatures over an outdoor area of . Most of the models are of scale 1:25 (like Sant'Apollinare in Classe), 1:33 (like Pisa's Piazza dei Miracoli), and 1:50 (like Milan Cathedral). The models are made of polyurethane, which is resistant to the weather. The models are decorated with Figurine, figurines of people. While most models are of Italian landmarks, a European section includes models from European capitals. Natural features including rivers, waterfalls, and volcanoes are also modelled.

Among notable models, the park features a 1:5 reproduction of 119 buildings in Venice, with a surface area of . St Mark's Campanile reaches a height of . Visitors can ride a gondola through the reproduction of the Grand Canal, with an audio guide from Giacomo Casanova. The Venetian sector took nine years to construct.

''Cannonacqua'' is a 1:3 reproduction of Rimini's Castel Sismondo. The castle occupies , its towers reaching a height of , and is equipped with 32 water cannons.

Buttons animate some scenes, such as a performance of Giuseppe Verdi's ''Aida'' at the Verona Arena, a fire in Porto Marghera, and the opening of the Ponte Girevole Swing bridge, swingbridge.

Attractions

Particularly on special evenings, the park hosts live shows by Street artist, street artists, Acrobatics, acrobats, dancers, singers, and musicians. Piazza Italia, a square in the park, hosts many such events.

The park's attractions include:

* ''AreAvventura'', a Tree climbing, tree-climbing activity area
* ''Cinemagia 7D'', an immersive cinematic experience
* ', a pavilion dedicated to physics opened in 2021.
* ', a carousel
* (Interactive Driving School). Measuring , visitors aged 6 to 12 can learn to drive a Fiat 500 through a virtual instructor for printed Driver's license, licences. The attraction has been powered by clean energy since 2010.
* '. The park's monorail is electrified with 12 motors each producing 4 horsepower using alternating current. The train accommodates up to 70 people in 12 carriages, reaching a maximum speed of . The monorail is suspended in the air, on average above the ground.
* (Scientific Luna Park). The pavilion hosts hosts educational scientific exhibitions in 10 sections, with interactive laboratories with experimental technologies.
* ''Pappamondo''. Opened in 2021, ''Pappamondo'' is a parrot aviary.
* ''Pinocchio''. Opened in 2021, the ''Pinocchio'' attraction features a train ride through places and characters inspired by Carlo Collodi's Pinocchio, including Mangiafuoco's theatre.
* ''Play Mart'', a ballpark
* ''Sling Shot''. Modelled as a slingshot, the attraction propels visitors into the air.
* (Panoramic Tower), a hot air balloon ride with 80,000 miniature figures of visitors to the park
* ' (Old Sawmill), a Log flume (ride), log flume

Transport

Start Romagna SpA's route 8 bus serves Italia in Miniatura; the route runs between Rimini's city centre and Viserba railway station. The park is located on the State highways (Italy), state road between Rimini and Ravenna, on the ancient Via Popilia. It is accessed from the Rimini Nord exit of the Autostrada A14 (Italy), A14 tolled highway.

Incidents

On 26 April 2010, a 46-year-old woman died after disembarking the ''Sling Shot'' attraction.

On 2 April 2015, the monorail stopped mid-air with 36 passengers, who were safely rescued by Rimini's fire brigade.

In popular culture

The music video for "Tanti auguri", a 1978 single by Raffaella Carrà, was filmed at Italia in Miniatura. In June 2022, the park featured in the music video of ''Tuca Tuca Remix'', a single by Carmen Russo and in homage to Carrà following her death the previous year.

From the end of the 1970s, the photographer Luigi Ghirri began visiting the park frequently, which he believed resonated with his work on the relationship between fiction and reality. Ghirri took 220 photographs of the park, which he first exhibited in 1979.

Image gallery

File:Piazza San Pietro Italia in Miniatura.JPG, Saint Peter's Square in Rome
File:Arena di Verona in Italia in miniatura.jpg, Verona Arena
File:Italia in miniatura.jpg, View over the park to the entrance
File:Colosseum in Italia in miniatura.jpg, Colosseum
File:Firenze in Italia in miniatura.jpg, Florence Cathedral

See also

* France Miniature – a miniature park in Élancourt, France

References

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Miniature parks
Buildings and structures in Rimini
1970 establishments in Italy
Amusement parks in Italy
Tourist attractions in Emilia-Romagna
Amusement parks opened in 1970