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Introduction
In the past few years the longstanding question of the material legacy of the Fascist regime has been the subject of renewed debate in Italy. One of the most high-profile cases is that of the former Casa del Fascio in Predappio, Mussolini’s home town, which has recently received a lot of media attention (Figure 1). After decades of neglect and disrepair, in 2015 the building was acquired by the town administration from the state and funds were raised to turn it into an international study centre and a permanent exhibition on the Fascist regime. The idea of a museum of Fascism situated in Predappio sparked a heated debate which is still ongoing and has mobilised deep-seated anxieties about national identity and its narratives, as well as a fear that an incorrectly handled museum-based representation of Fascism could lead to a distortion of the historical understanding of the ventennio and to celebratory evocations. This is particularly felt in relation to the town of Predappio, which has been the destination of nostalgic tourism, pilgrimages and marches, ever since Mussolini’s remains were returned to the town in 1957. Predappio is perceived as an emblematic site of the divided memory of Fascism in Italian history and culture (Baioni 1996 and 2017; Foot 2009; Serenelli 2013b).
Figure 1
The ex Casa del Fascio in Predappio (author’s own image)
[Figure omitted. See PDF]
The former Casa del Fascio of Predappio could be classified as an example of the ‘difficult heritage’ of Fascist Italy, to adopt the phrase used by Sharon Macdonald in her seminal study of the architectural heritage of Nazi Germany. Macdonald defines difficult heritage as ‘a past that is recognised as meaningful in the present, but that is also contested and awkward for public reconciliation with a positive, self-affirming contemporary identity’. It may threaten to ‘break through into the present in disruptive ways, opening up social divisions’ (Macdonald 2009, 1). What ‘difficult heritage’ means with regard to the material and architectural legacy of Fascist Italy is complex and has not been fully explored. Despite intense scholarly interest in Fascist culture and a vast literature on the architecture of the interwar years, 1 scant attention has been paid to the destiny of Fascist buildings in...