Villa Franceschi
An early-1900s Liberty villa in Riccione, given to the town by the Franceschi family and now its gallery of modern art.
At a glance
Villa Franceschi stands on Viale Gorizia, in the villa district behind the Riccione seafront. It was built in two phases between 1900 and the 1920s, in the eclectic, Liberty-tinged manner of the seaside bourgeoisie, and was bought in 1919 by Federico Franceschi, of the upper Emilian middle class. Given to the town in the years that followed, the villa reopened in 2005 as the Galleria d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, and now holds the civic art collection together with the regional Arcangeli Collection.
Key facts
- Built: between 1900 and the 1920s, in two phases
- Style: Liberty / early-20th-century eclectic
- Owners: bought in 1919 by Federico Franceschi; to the town in 1954
- Today: Galleria d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea Villa Franceschi (since 2005)
- Holdings: the civic art collection and the regional “Arcangeli Collection”
- Coordinates: 44.000282, 12.661245 — Google Maps
History
As Riccione grew into a resort, the families who summered there built villas in the streets just back from the beach. Federico Franceschi, of an upper-bourgeois family from the Emilian interior, bought the villa in 1919 and enlarged it. It is a modest, elegant example of the seaside Liberty villa, built in two phases between 1900 and the 1920s.
The villa passed to the town in 1954, under the will of Federico Franceschi’s widow, Clementina Zugno. In 2005, with the scientific support of the region’s cultural-heritage institute, the Comune di Riccione opened it as a gallery of modern and contemporary art. Its walls now carry the municipal collection and the Arcangeli Collection, named for the Bolognese art historian Francesco Arcangeli and owned by the Emilia-Romagna region.
What you see
The villa is a compact, two-storey house in a garden, its facade carrying the restrained ornament of early-20th-century Liberty rather than any single grand gesture. It reads as what it was: a comfortable family villa of the resort’s first decades, now quietly repurposed.
Inside, the domestic rooms have become gallery spaces, so a visit reads the building twice over — as architecture and as the setting for the art it now holds.
Practical information
- The villa is open to the public as a gallery; check the Comune di Riccione for current hours and exhibitions.
- The garden and exterior can be seen from Viale Gorizia.
- A natural pairing with Villa Mussolini and Villa Antolini for a Riccione villa walk.
Getting there
Riccione lies on the Bologna–Ancona railway, minutes south of Rimini. From Riccione station the villa is a short walk or bus ride towards the sea, in the streets of the Abissinia district behind the seafront.
Nearby
- Villa Mussolini (Villa Margherita) and Villa Antolini — the Liberty villas of Viale Milano
- Viale Ceccarini — the historic promenade of Riccione Liberty
- The Rationalist colonie of Riccione: Bertazzoni, Reggiana and Dalmine
Sources
- Comune di Riccione — Galleria d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea Villa Franceschi
- Regione Emilia-Romagna — catalogo del patrimonio culturale (PATER)
- Ministero della Cultura — Galleria d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea Villa Franceschi
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