Arena Hesperia

The building, consisting of a four-sided portico in neoclassical forms, was constructed in 1861 as a lodge for the annual silk cocoon market. About ten years later, Meldola won the record, together with the city of Como, for the best quality and quantity of silk products in Italy. The lodge also housed the Herbal Market, the Public Weighing House and the Fish Market.

The elegant lodge is bordered by a Doric-style colonnade made of brick. The columns echo the same type used in the façade of the nearby Dragoni Theatre. In 1972, the Pavaglione Lodge underwent a nonchalant restoration, which inappropriately replaced the original limestone tufa capitals with cement ones.

In recent years, this public space, no longer used as a merchant’s shop, was renamed Arena Hesperia, in honour of the famous silent film diva who had spent her childhood and early youth in Meldola. Olga Mambelli, alias Hesperia, first became an acclaimed variety star, then from 1912 to 1923 she devoted herself to cinema, starring in about sixty films. Her career ended in 1923 when she married director Baldassarre Negroni.

During the summer months, a rich cultural review is organised with a summer cinema programme, musical events and theatre shows, also for children.