Gambettola

Gambettola is a town in the Province of Forlì-Cesena, covering an area of almost 8 km², with a population of over 10,000.

The current layout dates back to the 1930s and, although it does not boast buildings of strong historical importance, it is a fascinating place because ancient and special activities find development there, the main one being the recycling of old iron. In the postwar period, many people decided to start collecting rags and discarded material, creating a virtuous economy of recycling and reuse. They invented the business of recovering war materials, creating important realities and family-run businesses of demolition and recovery of metal parts. Thus, the figure of the Stracciaiolo (ragman) came into being, to whom a monument is also dedicated, who traveled on heavy, battered bicycles and collected rags and old tools from house to house and then resold them.

In recent years, Gambettola has also undergone a strong development from a socio-cultural point of view, investing significant resources for the enhancement of public properties (e.g., the Municipal Theater, with a strong connotation for figure theater; the ‘Station of the Artists’, which hosts exhibitions, artistic residencies and creative workshops; ‘Casa Fellini’, the home where the well-known director’s paternal grandparents lived, constituting a new cultural hub dedicated to training on film and circus art, also through the activation of moments of hospitality).