Who knows how many people got desperate, on the school desks, trying to remember dates, names and events tied to the study of history! In Gradara the past lives back and does it in unexpected and pleasant ways, capable in the meantime of amusing, teaching and offering experiences which tie the past to the present. It is not by accident that this happens in Gradara, as the hamlet boasts a great tradition linked to the world of games, having hosted the first public toy library in Italy. This attitude reflects today into the possibility of assisting to historical shows and re-enhancements which put together a careful philological reconstruction and the magnificence of such pyrotechnical and musical animations as the summer “Thursday at the Castle” evenings, or the “Siege of the Castle”, an event which enacts the stoical resistance of the Malatesta fortress to the attack of the allied Sforzas and Montefeltros. In these and many other occasions, the citizens of Gradara wear traditional costumes, skilfully re-created with attention to details and a careful choice of materials, by such specialized tailors as Vanessa Menghi, who from her “Sartoria dei Malatesta” (Malatesta’s tailor’s shop) dresses makes ancient ladies and knights live again. It may thus happen of walking on the roads of Gradara to assist to traditional dances, dating from the renaissance to the baroque ages, and to historical shows passionately staged in the local theatre. Anybody can go back in time and live personally the experience of interactive animated paths which come to life in the most suggestive corners of the hamlet, a unique opportunity to discover historical events by playing an active role in them. Alan D’Amico, a famous illustrator from Gradara, created a whole graphic novel which between cartoon bubbles and wonderful images tells the story of the town; he also created a table game which makes the events concerning the families who dominated Gradara develop according to the moves of illustrated cards and coloured pawns handled by the players.
Gradara