Parco della Resistenza

Created in 1816 according to the design of architect L. Mirri, the garden was part of a group of projects that aimed to upgrade the area around Porta Cotogni.
The original plan was very impressive: the geometries, based on circumferences, created suggestive and complex designs of symmetrical flowerbeds, converging on a large central space, enhanced by an obelisk surrounded by a fountain with four basins and their seats; four statues of the seasons indicated as many opposite central areas of smaller size; the avenues finally completed the conformation of the Italian garden.
The backdrop of the garden was marked by three architectural elements: on the same axis as the entrance is a small temple, on the corners respectively the janitor's house and the Kaffehaus, the typical eighteenth-century building found in parks and used by aristocrats to have coffee or chocolate.
Despite the emotional impact, the Public Garden was not appreciated by the citizens who complained about the difficulty of moving with carriages.
In 1820 the architect G. Missirini designed the entrance gate supported by four pillars ending with 'Etruscan' sculptures: female heads, surmounted by flower pots, unfortunately destroyed after the Second World War.
In 1828, the municipality of Forlì decided complete the reconstruction of the public garden. The intervention of the municipal engineer G. Santarelli brought about a complete change to the original layout: the area of the garden was reduced and raised in order to obtain a better drainage of rainwater; the pedestrian paths were divided from the carriage roads according to different itineraries; only one big service building was planned, to replace the existing ones, as a backdrop to the large central avenue.
The transformation and enlargement studies of the Fascist period were never applied, while in the '70s an important intervention extended the green area up to Spazzoli Avenue, leaving the historical part almost intact.