Rimini
—  Comune  —
Comune di Rimini
Rimini Location of Rimini in Italy
Coordinates: 44°03′00″N 12°34′00″E / 44.05°N 12.5666667°E / 44.05; 12.5666667
Country	Italy
Region	Emilia-Romagna
Province	Rimini (RN)
Frazioni	Bellariva, Corpolò, Marebello, Miramare di Rimini, Rivabella, Rivazzurra, San Fortunato, San Giuliano a Mare, San Vito, Santa Aquilina, Santa Giustina, Torre Pedrera, Viserba, Viserbella
Government
• Mayor	Andrea Gnassi (PD)
Area
• Total	134 km2 (52 sq mi)
Elevation	6 m (20 ft)
Population (31 May 2010)
• Total	142,579
• Density	1,100/km2 (2,800/sq mi)
Demonym	Riminesi
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code	47921, 47922, 47923, 47924
Dialing code	0541
Patron saint	St. Gaudentius
Saint day	October 14
Website	Official website

Rimini (Italian pronunciation: [ˈriːmini] ( listen); Latin: Ariminum) is a medium-sized city of 142,579 inhabitants in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, and capital city of the Province of Rimini. It is located on the Adriatic Sea, on the coast between the rivers Marecchia (the ancient Ariminus) and Ausa (ancient Aprusa). It is one of the most famous seaside resorts in Europe, thanks to its 15 km-long sandy beach, over 1,000 hotels and thousands of bars, restaurants and discos. The first bathing establishment opened in 1843. An art city with ancient Roman and Renaissance monuments, Rimini is the hometown of the famous film director Federico Fellini as well.

Founded by the Romans in 268 BC, throughout their period of rule Rimini was a key communications link between the north and south of the peninsula, and on its soil Roman emperors erected monuments like the Arch of Augustus and the Tiberius Bridge, while during the Renaissance, the city benefited from the court of the House of Malatesta, which hosted artists like Leonardo and produced works such as the Malatesta Temple. In the 19th century, Rimini was one of the most active cities in the revolutionary front, hosting many of the movements aimed at the unification of Italy. In the course of World War II the city was the scene of clashes and bombings, but also of a fierce partisan resistance that earned it the honor of a gold medal for civic valor. Finally, in recent years it has become one of the most important sites for trade fairs and conferences in Italy.

History[link]

Ancient history[link]

The Arch of Augustus (27 BC)

In 268 BC at the mouth of the Ariminus river, in an area that had previously been inhabited by the Etruscans, the Umbrians, the Greeks and the Gauls, the Romans founded the colony of Ariminum, probably from the name of a nearby river, Ariminus (today, Marecchia). Previously the area had been Gaulish, from the 6th century BC, to that group's final defeat in 283 BC by the Umbri, in whose possession it remained until 263 BC when it became a Latin colony very helpful to the Romans during the late Gallic wars.

The city was involved in the civil wars but remained faithful to the popular party and to its leaders, firstly Marius, and then Caesar. After crossing the Rubicon, the latter made his legendary appeal to the legions in the Forum of Rimini.

Ariminum was seen as a bastion against invaders from Gaul and also as a springboard for conquering the Padana plain. As the terminus of the Via Flaminia, which ended here in the surviving prestigious Arch of Augustus (erected 27 BC), Rimini was a road junction connecting central Italy and northern Italy by the Via Aemilia that led to Piacenza and the Via Popilia that extended northwards; it also opened up trade by sea and river. Remains of the amphitheater that could seat 12000 people, and a five-arched bridge of Istrian stone completed by Tiberius (21 AD) are also still visible. Later Galla Placida built the church of San Stefano.

Crisis in the Roman world was marked by destruction caused by invasions and wars, but also by the testimony of the palaces of the Imperial officers and the first churches, the symbol of the spread of Christianity that held an important Council in Rimini in 359.

Middle Ages[link]

Portrait of Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta called the Wolf of Rimini, by Piero della Francesca, c. 1450, Louvre

When the Ostrogoths conquered Rimini in 493, Odoacer, besieged in Ravenna, had to capitulate. During the Gothic War Rimini was taken and retaken many times. In its vicinity the Byzantine general Narses overthrew (553) the Alamanni. Under the Byzantine rule, it belonged to the Pentapolis, part of the Exarchate of Ravenna.

In 728, it was taken with many other cities by the Lombard King Liutprand but returned to the Byzantines about 735. King Pepin gave it to the Holy See, but during the wars of the popes and the Italian cities against the emperors, Rimini sided with the latter.

In the thirteenth century, it suffered from the discords of the Gambacari and Ansidei families. The city became a municipality in the fourteenth century and with the arrival of the religious orders, numerous convents and churches were built, providing work for many illustrious artists. In fact, Giotto inspired the 14th-century School of Rimini, which was the expression of original cultural ferment.

The Malatesta family emerged from the struggles between municipal factions with Malatesta da Verucchio, who in 1239 was named podestà (feudal lord) of the city. Despite interruptions, his family held authority until 1528. In 1312 he was succeeded by Malatesta II, first signore (lord) of the city and Pandolfo I, the latter's brother, named by Louis the Bavarian imperial vicar in Romagna. Ferrantino, son of Malatesta II (1335), was opposed by his cousin Ramberto and by Cardinal Bertando del Poggetto (1331), legate of John XXII. Malatesta Guastafamiglia (1363) was also lord of Pesaro. He was succeeded by Malatesta Ungaro (1373) and Galeotto, uncle of the former (1385), lord also of Fano (from 1340), Pesaro, and Cesena (1378).

His son Carlo, one of the most respected condottieri of the time, enlarged the Riminese possessions and restored the port. Carlo died childless in 1429, and the lordship was divided into three parts, Rimini going to Galeotto Roberto, a Catholic zealot who turned out to be totally inadequate for the role. The Pesarese line of the Malatestas tried, in fact, to take advantage of his weakness and to capture the city, but Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta, Carlo's nephew, who was only 14 at the time, intervened to save it. Galeotto retired to a convent, and Sigismondo obtained the rule of Rimini.

Sigismondo Pandolfo was the most famous lord of Rimini. In 1433 Emperor Sigismund soujourned in the city and for a while he was the commander-in-chief of the Papal armies. A skilled general, Sigismondo often acted as condottiero for other states to gain money to embellish it (he was also a dilettante poet). He had the famous Tempio Malatestiano rebuilt by Leon Battista Alberti. However, after the rise of Pope Pius II he had to fight constantly for the independence of the city. In 1463 he was forced to submit to Pius II, who left him only Rimini and little more; Roberto Malatesta, his son (1482), under pope Paul II nearly lost his state but under Sixtus IV became the commanding officer of the pontifical army against Ferdinand of Naples. Sigismondo was, however, defeated by Neapolitan forces in the battle of Campomorto (1482). Pandolfo IV, his son (1500), lost Rimini to Cesare Borgia, after whose overthrow it fell to Venice (1503–1509), but it was later retaken by pope Julius II and incorporated into the Papal States. After the death of pope Leo X, Pandolfo returned for several months, and with his son Sigismondo held a rule which looked tyrannous even for the time. Pope Adrian VI expelled him again and gave Rimini to the Duke of Urbino, the pope's vicar in Romagna. In 1527 Sigismondo managed to regain the city, but in the following year the Malatesta dominion died forever.

Modern history[link]

Statue of pope Paul V

Piazza Tre Martiri

At the beginning of the 16th century Rimini, now a secondary town of the Papal States, was ruled by an Apostolic Legate. Towards the end of the 16th century, the municipal square (now Piazza Cavour), which had been closed off on a site where the Poletti Theatre was subsequently built, was redesigned. The statue of Pope Paul V has stood in the centre of the square next to the fountain since 1614.

In the 16th century, the 'grand square' (now the Piazza Tre Martiri in honor of three civilians hanged by the retreating Nazis at the end of World War II), which was where markets and tournaments were held, underwent various changes. A small temple dedicated to Saint Anthony of Padua and a clock tower were built there, giving the square its present shape and size.

Until the 18th century raiding armies, earthquakes, famines, floods and pirate attacks ravaged the city. In this gloomy situation and due to a weakened local economy, fishing took on great importance, a fact testified by the construction of structures such as the fish market and the lighthouse.

In 1797 Rimini, along with the rest of Romagna, was affected by the passage of the Napoleonic army and became part of the Cisalpine Republic. Napoleonic policy suppressed the monastic orders, confiscating their property and thus dispersing a substantial heritage, and demolished many churches including the ancient cathedral of Santa Colomba. On 30 March 1815, Joachim Murat launched his proclamation to the Italian people from Rimini, inciting them to unity and independence. In 1845 a band of adventurers commanded by Ribbotti entered the city and proclaimed a constitution which was soon abolished. In 1860 Rimini and Romagna were incorporated into the Kingdom of Italy.

The city was transformed after the 1843 founding of the first bathing establishment and the Kursaal, a building constructed to host sumptuous social events, became the symbol of Rimini's status as a tourist resort. In just a few years the seafront underwent considerable development work making Rimini 'the city of small villas'. At the beginning of the twentieth century The Grand Hotel, the city’s first major accommodation facility, was built near the beach.

During the first World War Rimini and its surrounding infrastructure was one of the primary targets of the Austro-Hungarian Navy. After Italy's declaration of war on 15 May 1915 the Austro-Hungarian fleet left its harbours the same day and started its assault on the Adriatic coast between Venice and Barletta.

During World War II the city was torn apart by heavy bombardments and by the passage of the front over the Gothic Line during the Battle of Rimini and was eventually captured by Greek and Canadian forces. Following its liberation on September 21, 1944, reconstruction work began, culminating in huge development of the tourist industry in the city.

Notable buildings[link]

Piazza Cavour

Tempio Malatestiano

Tiberius Bridge (21 AD)

Waterfront from the harbour

Rocks at the harbor

Federico Fellini received five Oscars.

• The 13th century cathedral (San Francesco, best known as Tempio Malatestiano) was originally in Gothic style, but was transformed by order of Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta according to the designs of Leon Battista Alberti and never completed. In the cathedral are the tombs of Sigismondo and his wife Isotta.
• The Arch of Augustus. Built in 27 BC, it has a single gate 9.92 m high and 8.45 m wide. The merlons were added in the Middle Ages. It was restored in the 18th century by Tommaso Temanza.
• The church of San Giuliano Martire (1553–1575), housing the great picture of Paul Veronese (1588) representing the martyrdom of that saint. It includes also pictures of Bittino da Faenza (1357) dealing with some episodes of the saint's life (1409).
• The Tiberius Bridge. As the inscription on the internal parapets recalls, the bridge over the Marecchia River, then known as Ariminus, began under Augustus in 14 AD and was completed under Tiberius in 21. The bridge still connects the city centre to Borgo San Giuliano and leads to the consular roads Via Emilia and Via Popilia that lead north. Built in Istria stone, the bridge consists of five arches that rest on massive pillars with breakwater spurs set at an oblique angle with respect to the bridge’s axis in order to follow the current. The bridge’s structure on the other hand, rests on a practical system of wooden poles.
• The Roman amphitheater (2nd century). It was erected alongside the ancient coast line, and had a two orders of porticoes with 60 arcades. It had elliptical shape, with axes of 117.7 x 88 meters. The arena measured 73 x 44 meters, not far from the greatest Roman amphitheatres: the edifice could house up to 15,000 spectators.
• The Castel Sismondo or Rocca Malatestiana of Sigismondo Pandolfo was later used as a prison.
• Palazzo dell'Arengo e del Podestà (1204), seat of the judiciary and civil administrations. On the short side in the 14th century the podestà residence was added. It was modified at the end of the 16th century.
• Teatro Galli, originally dedicated to king Victor Emmanuel II and then to the musician Amintore Galli, it was designed by architect Luigi Poletti. It was inaugurated in 1857 with an opera by Giuseppe Verdi (Aroldo). The theatre was bombed during World War II. Since then it is still a ruin in the city centre. Many projects and plans have been made to restore it during the years, the latest having been announced in 2010.^[1]
• The church of St. John the Evangelist (also known as St. Augustine).
• The church of San Giovanni Battista, erected in the 12th century. It has a single nave with rich stucco decoration from the 18th century.
• The town hall has a small but valuable gallery (Perin del Vaga, Ghirlandajo, Bellini, Benedetto Coda, Tintoretto, Agostino di Duccio); the Gambalunga Library (1677) has valuable manuscripts.
• Church of San Fortunato (1418). It houses the Adoration of the Magi (1547) by Giorgio Vasari.
• The bell tower of the former Cathedral of Santa Colomba.
• Archeological museum.
• Bronze statue of Paul V.

Transportation[link]

Rimini is provided with six railway stations (Rimini, Rimini Fiera, Rimini Miramare, Rimini Rivazzurra, Rimini Viserba and Rimini Torre Pedrera). It is served by the Federico Fellini Airport, airport of Rimini and San Marino.

Rimini's local public transport network includes the Rimini–Riccione trolleybus line, which links the city with the nearby seaside resort of Riccione.

Economy[link]

The airline Air Vallée has its head office on the grounds of Federico Fellini Airport in Rimini.^[2]

Notable natives of Rimini and environs[link]

• Samuele Bersani (singer-songwriter, born 1970)
• Pier Paolo Bianchi (Grand Prix motorcycle road racer, born 1952)
• Claudio Maria Celli (titular bishop, born 1941)
• Federico Fellini (film director, 1920–1993)
• Roberto Paci Dalò (composer, director, visual artist, born 1962)
• Elio Pagliarani (poet and literary critic, born 1927 in Viserba)
• Renzo Pasolini (Grand Prix motorcycle road racer, 1938–1973)
• Hugo Pratt (comic book creator, 1927–1995)
• Delio Rossi (football manager, born 1960)
• Loris Stecca (former world champion boxer, born 1960)
• Roberto Valturio (engineer and writer, 1405–1475)
• Carlton Myers (basketball player)
• Matteo Brighi (football player)

Notable companies[link]

• Bimota (motorcycles)
• SCM (woodworking machines)

Twin towns — Sister cities[link]

Rimini is twinned with:

• Seraing, Belgium
• Saint-Maur-des-Fossés, France
• Sochi, Russia
• Ziguinchor, Senegal
• Fort Lauderdale, United States
• Yangzhou, People's Republic of China
• Djibouti City, Djibouti
• Linköping, Sweden
• Lattakia, Syria
• Playa del Carmen, Mexico

See also[link]

Italy portal

• Bishopric of Rimini
• Rimini Calcio Football Club
• Battle of Rimini (1944)
• The Grand Hotel Rimini
• Federico Fellini

References[link]

Sources and external links[link]

Find more about Rimini on Wikipedia's sister projects:
	Definitions and translations from Wiktionary
	Images and media from Commons
	Learning resources from Wikiversity
	News stories from Wikinews
	Quotations from Wikiquote
	Source texts from Wikisource
	Textbooks from Wikibooks

• Rimini travel guide from Wikitravel
• Province of Rimini
• Rimini Comune (Town Council)
• Official Tourist Information site of Rimini (Town Council)

Fabrizio Cristiano De André (18 February 1940 - 11 January 1999) was an Italian singer-songwriter. Known for his sympathies towards anarchism, libertarism and pacifism, his songs often featured marginalized and rebellious people, gypsies, prostitutes and knaves, and attacked the Catholic Church hierarchy hypocrisies.^[1]. Artistically active for almost 40 years and the author of thirty studio albums, he is renowned for the quality of his lyrics and often considered a poet. He contributed to the valorization of the languages of Italy, most notably Ligurian and, to a lesser extent, Sardinian, Gallurese and Neapolitan. Following his early death several streets, places, parks, schools and public libraries were named after him.^{[2][3][4][5][6]}

Biography[link]

De André was born in Genoa, welcomed into the world by Gino Marinuzzi's "Country Waltz" on the home gramophone. Twenty-five years later, Fabrizio De André would set his "Waltz for a Love" to Marinuzzi's waltz tune.

When war broke out, the De Andre' family had to seek refuge on a country farm near Revignano (a little town near Asti), in Piemonte. Fabrizio's father, who was an Anti-fascista pursued by the police, joined the partisans. In 1945 the De André family moved back to Genova. Fabrizio went to primary school, first at the Marcellian Sisters' School and, later, at the Cesare Battisti public school. He went on to the Liceo Classico "Cristoforo Colombo"; after his final examination, he enrolled in the Law School at the University of Genoa, though he did not graduate (he gave up when he had only a few exams left). De Andre' first played the violin, then the guitar, and joined a number of local jazz bands (jazz was his "first love").

First recordings[link]

In 1961 De André recorded his first two songs, "Nuvole barocche" ("Baroque Clouds") and "E fu la notte" ("And There Was Night"); in 1962 he married Puny Rignon, a Genoese woman nearly ten years older. That same year the couple had their first and only son, Cristiano, who would follow in his father's footsteps and become a musician and songwriter as well.

In the following years De André wrote a number of songs which made him known to a larger public, soon becoming classic hits: "La guerra di Piero" ("Peter's War"), "La ballata dell'eroe" ("The Hero's Ballad"), "Il testamento di Tito" ("Titus's Will"), "La Ballata del Michè" ("Mike's Ballad"), "Via del Campo" (literally "Field Street", a famous street in Genoa), "La canzone dell'amore perduto" ("Song for Lost Love"), "La città vecchia" ("Old Downtown"), "Carlo Martello ritorna dalla battaglia di Poitiers" ("Charles Martel on His Way Back from Poitiers", written together with actor Paolo Villaggio, one of De André's closest friends), and "La canzone di Marinella" ("Marinella's Song").

Volume 1[link]

De André's first LP, Volume 1, was issued shortly after (1968), followed by Tutti morimmo a stento ("We All Died Agonizingly") and Volume 3; both LPs soon reached the top of the Italian hit-parade. The former contained a personal version of "Eroina" ("Heroin") by the poet Riccardo Mannerini, entitled "Cantico dei drogati" ("Canticle of the Junkies").

[edit] La buona novella

In 1970 De André wrote La buona novella ("Glad Tidings" - a literal rendition of the etymology of gospel), a concept album based on Christ's life as told in the Apocrypha. The album was very controversial, especially the song "Il testamento di Tito" ("Titus's Will"), in which one of the thieves crucified with Jesus violently refutes the Ten Commandments. He had written a number of songs (like "Preghiera in Gennaio", "Prayer in January", and "Si chiamava Gesù", "His Name Was Jesus") in which he showed a Christian-like open-minded spirit and in the meantime invited the audience in his own delicate way to think about the manipulation of the church.

[edit] Non al denaro non all'amore né al cielo

In 1971 he wrote another celebrated concept album, Non al denaro non all'amore né al cielo ("Neither to money, nor to love, nor to Heaven"), based on Edgar Lee Masters's Spoon River Anthology; in an interview the LP was introduced to Fernanda Pivano, the first Italian translator of the "Anthology" and one of Cesare Pavese's most intimate friends. Fabrizio De André's name began to be associated with literature and poetry, and some of his songs found their way into school books.

[edit] Storia di un impiegato and Canzoni

In 1973 he wrote his most "political" album, Storia di un impiegato ("Story of an Employee").
The following year, De André issued Canzoni ("Songs"), a collection of his translations from Georges Brassens, Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan. The album also included a number of his old songs from the 1960s.

[edit] Volume 8

In 1975 De André (who in the meantime had divorced his wife Puny and begun a relationship with the folksinger Dori Ghezzi) wrote Volume 8 with another famous Italian singer-songwriter, Francesco De Gregori. With this album, he broke with "tradition" in order to find a new approach to poetry and music. The lyrics show how deep the influence of modern poetry is on De André's work. 1975 marked a real change in De André's life: he began to perform in a series of memorable concerts (after his first performances of the early 1960s, he had always refused to appear in public, except for a couple of TV broadcasts) and planned to move to Sardinia with his new love. For this purpose, he purchased the Agnata homestead near Tempio Pausania in the northern part of the island, where he could devote himself to farming and cattle breeding.

In 1977 the couple had a daughter, Luisa Vittoria (nicknamed "Luvi"). The following year De André issued a new LP, Rimini. Most songs included on this album were written together with Massimo Bubola, a young singer-songwriter from Verona.

Concerts with PFM and kidnapping[link]

1979 was another milestone in De André's life. The year began with a series of distinguished live concerts from which a double LP was compiled; De André was accompanied by one of the most renowned Italian progressive rock bands, Premiata Forneria Marconi (PFM); the albums were released as In Concerto (1979), and In Concerto - Volume 2 (1980). At the end of August, however, De André and Ghezzi were kidnapped for ransom by a gang of bandits in Sardinia and held prisoner in the Alà dei Sardi mountains. The couple were released four months later with a ransom reportedly being paid. As De André stated in some interviews, he was helped by his father to find the money and had to start a tour shortly after the release of the "Indiano" album in order to repay him. When the bandits were apprehended by the police, De André was called as a witness before the Court. He showed compassion for some of his kidnappers, since he had been well treated by his "guardians" and declared his solidarity with them. "They were the real prisoners, not I", he said. This declaration is a good example of De André's viewpoint and approach.^{[citation needed]} He said he understood they were driven by need, but he did not show any compassion for the higher echelon of the group that organized his kidnapping, since they were already rich.

This incident, and the hard life of the Sardinian people, gave him inspiration for his following album, released in 1981. The album is untitled but, due to the image of Native American on the cover, the mass-media called it "The Indian". In De André's poetical vision, the American Indians merge with the poor Sardinian shepherds as an allegory for the marginalization and subjugation of people who are "different". The song "Hotel Supramonte", is dedicated to the kidnapping and to Dori Ghezzi, who was with him during those days. The album also contains one of his most famous songs, "Fiume Sand Creek" ("Sand Creek River"): in De André's unique, allusive way it tells the story of the massacre of defenseless Native Americans by US Army troops on 29 November 1864.

[edit] Crêuza de mä

In 1984 he turned to his native Genoese dialect; in collaboration with former PFM member Mauro Pagani he wrote one of his most celebrated albums, Crêuza de mä ("Path to the sea", the term "Crêuza" actually means a narrow road bordered by low walls, typical of Genoa and Liguria in general). The songs are a tribute to the traditional music from the Mediterranean basin. The album was awarded several prizes and was hailed as "the best Italian album of the 1980s".^{[citation needed]} David Byrne named it as one of his favourite albums, and Wim Wenders said that it was this album that introduced him to the music of De André, whom the director names as one of his favourite artists.^[7] As Pagani has repeatedly stated, De Andrè wrote the lyrics for the album, while the music was almost entirely Pagani's.

1990s[link]

In 1989 De André married Ghezzi; the following year a new album was issued, Le nuvole ("The Clouds"), which included two more songs in the Genoese dialect, one in the Gallurese dialect of Northern Sardinia ("Monti di Mola") and one in the Neapolitan dialect, the highly ironic "Don Raffaè". A new series of well received live concerts followed, from which a double LP, 1991 Concerti ("Concerts 1991"), was issued. In 1992 he started a new series of live concerts, performing in a number of theatres for the first time.

De André's last original album, Anime salve ("Saved Souls"), was issued in 1996. Written in collaboration with Ivano Fossati, it represents a sort of "spiritual will", and includes songs such as "Khorakhané" (dedicated to the Muslim Roma people), "Disamistade" (a return to his beloved Sardinian themes, which has been translated into English and sung by The Walkabouts) and "Smisurata preghiera" ("An Infinite Prayer"), based on the Colombian writer and storyteller Álvaro Mutis's The Adventures and Misadventures of Maqroll. De André also sang a Spanish version of this song, Desmedida plegaria.

In 1997, he undertook a new tour of theatre concerts and a new song collection called M'innamoravo di tutto was issued ("I Used to Fall in Love with Everything", a quote from one of his older songs, Coda di Lupo - Wolf's Tail) . The Anime salve concert tour went on up to the late summer of 1998, when De André stopped after the first symptoms of a serious illness, which was later diagnosed as lung cancer.

De André died in Milan on 11 January 1999, at 2:30 am. Two days later, he was buried in his native town, Genoa; the ceremony was attended by a crowd of about 20,000. He is buried in the Monumental Cemetery of Staglieno, in the De André family chapel.

Fabrizio De André and faith[link]

In the concept album La Buona Novella (1970), De André gives us the ultimate expression of his religious vision, making a clear humanization of the divine. In a concert at the Teatro Brancaccio in Rome in 1998, De André made the following statements about ^[8]:

« When I wrote La Buona Novella was 1969. It was then, in full students' fight and people less attentive regarded as an anachronism that record [...] And they did not realize that the Good News was meant to be an allegory: a comparison between the instances of the revolt of '68, and instances , spiritually higher but similar in an ethical-social point of view, built by a gentleman, 1969 years before, against the abuses of power, against the abuses of authority, in the name of egalitarianism and universal brotherhood. That man was called Jesus of Nazareth. And I think he was, and remains, the greatest revolutionary of all time. When I wrote the album I did't want to go in ways difficult to get to me, such as metaphysics or even theology. Then I thought that if God did not exist we should invent it, which is exactly what the human did since he set foot on earth »

« Probably the characters in La Buona Novella forgive a bit of sanctification, but I believe and I hope particularly for the benefit of their better and more humanization »

The attitude taken by De André against the political use of religion and the Church hierarchy is often sarcastic and highly critical about their contradictory behaviour, such as, for example, in the songs Un Blasfemo, Il Testamento di Tito, La ballata del Miché and the last verses of Bocca di Rosa^[9].

« I feel myself religious, and my religion is to feel part of a whole, in a chain that includes all creation and so to respect all elements, including plants and minerals, because, in my opinion, the balance is exactly given from the well-being in our surroundings. My religion does not seek the principle, you want to call it creator, regulator or chaos makes no difference. But I think that everything around us has its own logic and this is a thought to which I turn when I'm in difficulty, perhaps giving the names I've learned as a child, maybe because I lack the imagination to find out other ones »

After the kidnapping, the religious vision of De André had a new development;

« During the abduction helped me the faith in men, just where there wasn't faith in God. I have always said that God is a human invention, something utilitarian, a patch on the fragility ... But, however, with the kidnapping something has changed. I've not changed my mind, but it is certain that today swearing at least embarrasses me. »^[10]

Discography[link]