Rimini is a beautiful Italian city in Emilia Romagna, a coastal region on the East side of the country. The coffee culture has always been very present here, as you can guess from its beautiful historic cafes.
Where to find historical cafes in Rimini
Rimini has been able to protect the immense cultural worth of its cafes. This mainly thanks to the cafes owners themselves and the to the city authority who worked hard to preserve the cultural heritage of these invaluable places, and of the city in general.
Even though Rimini might not be the first Italian destination you think about, especially coming from the US, it’s definitely worth the visit. We decided to take you with us for a coffee-tour of the city, where you will learn a lot about it.
Caffè Cavour
Also known as Caffè della Fontana (Fountain’s Café), this is the most ancient café in the city, dating back to 1784. It went by another name at beginning, Cafè Bologna. It was so popular you can find it mentioned in many literary masterpieces. You can find this café in the main square of the city, Piazza Cavour, hence its name today, close the fountain named “Fontana della Pigna”, hence its older name.
1784 is the official year of foundation, even though we can’t be 100% sure about it. Anyway, we know for sure that in 1778 this place was mentioned in the literary work “Pratica Agraria” by the Italian philosopher Giovanni A. Battara. This means the Café was popular already.
At the beginning of the 19th century the café was known for being the place where gambler would go for their illegal activities. For this reason it had been closed for a while. This trend for the place went on until decade later, when the director was jailed. When he got out, he stayed in the management of the café for a while, before moving to another place in the city.
Today Caffè Cavour is nothing like the shady place it was in the past, and you can enjoy a great coffee right in the middle of the city centre.
Caffè dei Nobili
Piazza Cavour is also the home to Caffè dei Nobili. The place is popular today for traditional street food, and in the past its culinary specialties were what made it famous.
Its foundation date back to 1786, when it was established in what had previously been a slaughterhouse, that was sent away for sanitary reasons, The square in fact, was becoming more and more important and crowded with people.
After a massive renovation, the place made history by adding the first contemporary pool table in 1809.
The Caffè dei Nobili underwent a lot of different managements, but two of the directors who will always be remembered are the couple Giovanni Lombardi and Luigia Martini. They are mentioned in a literary work that goes like this: “They are worth mentioning thanks to their excellent work and their undoubtful moral honesty”. Unfortunately, the Caffè dei Nobili was closed for sanitary reasons in 1835, but reopened quickly. It has been, since then, a landmark in the city.
Caffetteria Cervellati
Caffetteria Cervellati was founded in the 19th century and you’ll find it in Tre Martiri Sqaure, previously Piazza Sant’Antonio. Its specialty was, of course, coffee and traditional pastries. It the place with the greatest production at the time, in fact records have been found saying that in February 1937 alone they ordered 80kg of flour!
Did you enjoy this brief tour of Rimini’s cafès? We are sure you won’t miss the chance to visit a few of them if you ever find yourself in this beautiful historic city.
