Italy is famous for its great artistic and architectural heritage. Italian treasures have now become international symbols, who has never heard of the Colosseum, Piazza San Marco in Venice, the Tower of Pisa or the Royal Palace of Caserta? Our boot is long and narrow and just one year would not be enough to visit it all. Why not then change perspective and visit the beautiful country in just one day?
Italy in Miniature: the history
Italy in miniature is a theme park founded in 1970 by the Rambaldi family in Viserbella, in the province of Rimini. Ivo Rambaldi was an entrepreneur from Emilia Romagna, very much in love with his Italy. After an experience abroad in which he visited “Switzerland in miniature”, he decided to sell his thermo-sanitary systems company and bet on a park dedicated to Italian architectural heritage. The first monument he built in 1967 was the Basilica of Sant'Apollinare di Ravenna, his hometown. Three years later the public could admire the first 50 miniatures, spread over an area of 20,000 square meters. The real turning point came in August 1970: thanks to a 6-page article in the week "Epoca", the park went from an average of 5 to 1,500 visitors a day.
Miniature of the Colosseum
In the following years Ivo and his four children continued to invest in the park with miniatures on an ever-increasing scale. In 1992, the 119 palaces overlooking the Grand Canal of Venice were represented on a scale of 1: 5. In 1987 the monorotary. Today the park is owned by Costa Edutainment Spa and has 253 reproductions, quadrupling its extension. Italy in miniature can be visited every day and cit has more than 50,000 hits every year.
A park for everyone, young and old
At Italy in miniature, fun is for everyone. Adults can admire the detailed miniatures, plan the destination for the next weekend outside the city, or remember the holidays spent in various Italian cities in front of the monuments reproduced to scale. Instead the children will be lucky enough to finally feel great, even giants, and have fun in the various regions. Or recognize what they have seen on television or studied in school books during the year. The battle with water balloons is inevitable "Cannonacqua", between the Malatesta and Montefeltro families, at the reproduction of Castelsismondo di Rimini. Finally, since 2003 the park has offered some didactic itineraries suitable for hosting school groups and families.
The mascot
As you would expect from a real amusement park, even Italy in miniature has its own mascot. We do not is a gigantic extraterrestrial who has decided to embark on an interplanetary journey for research purposes. Arriving on planet Earth, he decides to visit Italy… being fascinated by it, so much so that he never leaves again!
The miniature parks in the world
As early as the early 900s some miniature parks had sprung up in Europe, the oldest being that of Bekonscot in England and Madurodam in Holland near The Hague. Today Italia in Miniatura is part of theInternational Association of Miniature Parks, together with other theme parks, such as Capri - Island in miniature, born in 1996.
And you, do you want to bet on Italy?
Ivo Rambaldi he was a father, an entrepreneur, but above all an Italian in love with his country, willing to do anything to carry out his project. Nowadays there are many people, Italian and foreign, who bet on Italy, encouraging the made in Italy, but above all helping the restructuring of our artistic heritage. Diego Della Valle, head of the Tod's clothing and footwear group, sponsored the works at the Colosseum, while the maison Fendi is the patron of the cleaning of the Trevi Fountain, also in Rome. And we Italians, in Italy and in the world, what can we do in everyday life for to bet on our country or our history?
