Piazza Primo Maggio or Piazza delle Sirene

Piazza Primo Maggio is the main square in Cattolica, an oasis of serenity which takes its name from the fountain that is in its centre: the Fontana delle Sirene from which the square also took its name during the 40's.

From a base which is decorated with shells which are the symbol of the sea, three voluptuous mermaids rise that are covered in drapes which support a basin which gathers the water.

this work was commissioned by the sculptor from Forlì, Giuseppe Canalini, and his model for the mermaids was his daughter Francesca.

This splendid fountain was erected in the same point in which the Lazzaretto was to be found in the 1800's: a health centre and a water's edge customs control.

This fountain was the centre for the development of the changes that interested the people in Cattolica and the square itself in the 20's where hotels and boarding houses began to substitute the small, existing villa's.

At the end of the 80's a project was proposed: that of the transformation of the square into a green, tranquil, and peaceful oasis.

Underneath the square a parking facility was built where visitors can comfortably leave their cars and enjoy the beauty of the town on foot.

Apart from this, the whole square has been modified: a beautiful round square that embraces the Fontana delle Sirene, a green oasis with benches under shady climbing plants, to which one can access through a symbolic door, and a multitude of water shows and fountains which give serenity on the notes of a waltz or of a melodious or vivacious simphony.