CASINOS ITALIA story

Return to Index Gallery Index Read Responses

The Chip Board Recent Archive

Between the middle of ninenteenth century and the First World War, casinos multiplied on Italian territory, following the example of France and Belgium.The development of casinos is rapid and is spreading throughout the territory, but it is in thermal and climatic stations that this new space finds the most success.
As a way of developing tourism and responding to the search for entertainment and expressions of worldliness, the large international financial companies, with the capacity to invest, find in Italy a favorable regime in which gambling is prohibited, but in reality it is tolerated.
As of 1924, the fascist regime declared the game illegal ( Royal Decret n. 636 du 27 avril 1924) , authorizing it only in Sanremo, Campione d´Italia, Venice and Saint Vincent.
The decree will allow open of gambling houses, with government authorization only "in places that have been home to climatic, seaside or hydromineral resorts for at least ten years and that are not located near centers with populations over 200 thousand inhabitants ».
The first casino recognized by law will be that of SANREMO(1927), followed by CAMPIONE D´ITALIA (1933), VENICE (1936) and SAINT VINCENT (1946).
Even today, gambling in Italy is only allowed in these four casinos.

The casinos which remain in activity, try to continue producing shows, but without the contribution of games of chance, they are no longer able to hold and several gambling rooms closed, are reconverted or destroyed.
The Riviera Liguria had opened the casinos: OSPEDALETTI (1884-1924). BALZI ROSSI DE VINTEMIGLIA (Casino des Rochers-Vintimillia) (1911), ALASSIO (1912-1936), BORDIGHERA (1914-1927) and SANREMO, opened in 1905 and still in operation today. In Liguria, CASINO DE PEGLI and CASINO DE RAPALLO were also opened.
Several other casinos will open around Italy ( shown below).
Foreign companies that invest in the opening of casinos do so mainly for the revenues from gambling, but they also promote theatrical and other shows, contributing to the development of the territory, culture and increasing the tax revenues of the region.
Liguria takes advantage of its strategic position, located near Nice and Cannes, areas traditionally with the most developed tourism, and mainly Monte Carlo, center of the game from the middle of the 19th century. Liguria recreates an environment very similar to the Cote d'Azur, taking advantage of the lack of clarity in the gambling regulations in Italy, organizing its casinos according to the Monte Carlo model - the game takes place in reserved spaces (Cercles de Jeux- Circoli dei Forastieri in Italian) where locals are banned, whose access will be restricted to shows.
OSPEDALETTI, THE FIRST ITALIAN CASINO
From 1880, it was the colossal operation of the Société Foncière Lyonnaise which transformed the fishing village of Ospedaletti into a tourist destination of international renown.
In 1880, the Franco-Ligurian company bought a large piece of land from Ospedaletti with the aim of opening a new winter resort, complete with custom-built villas, a large hotel and a magnificent casino inspired by that of Monte-Carlo. Carlo.
The complex is advertised in a brochure highlighting the position of Ospedaletti (below), close to the most famous Bordighera and San Remo, highlighting its unique qualities and the strategic position "35 minutes from Monaco"

The CASINO DE OSPEDALETTI was inaugurated in January 1884.

The promoters' wish was to transform Ospedaletti into a new Monte-Carlo.
During its first years of activity, the Casino d'Ospedaletti obviously remains far from the Monegasque model: the structure represents the leisure activities of a selected wintering colony and its financial viability seems to fit into the more complex design of the operation. real estate. However, the game of chance must have appeared at a time in the history of Ospedaletti casino

[Ospedaletti attracts the most select aristocracy and high bourgeoisie in Europe, and the casino, in addition to the game, has a fabulous theatrical activity until the 1910s, the year in which the big investor, le Credit Lyonnais decides to abandon investments abroad. The Ospedaletti Casino is now in the hands of Giovanni Tedeschi, who was also the manager of the Grand Kursaal of San Pellegrino, since its opening in July 1907.( One for Winter Season, another for Summer Season)

Opened in July 1907, the Grand Kursaal de San Pellegrino ("Casino" since 1915) was born out of Italian speculation - which, at the beginning of the 20th century - transformed the Alpine spa resort into an elite destination.

The Great War 1914-1918 and the fascist laws of 1924 impose the closure of the Casino, which will open (without gambling) in a sporadic way from 1924. In WWII (1939-1945) it will serve as a shelter for German and Italian troops, After the war, it became a private residence until 1950, when it was abandoned, and went into ruin.
Casino de Sanremo
The Casino de Sanremo was inaugurated on January 14, 1905, after only fourteen months of work.
The Concessionaire of the Casino de Sanremo will also be Lurati the concessionaire of the Casino de Montecatini.
The Casino reaches a glorious period, when the dealer organizes sumptuous theatrical saisons
These glorious years came to an end in 1915, when Italy's entry into the war led to the closure of the Casino de Sanremo in high season. The government call of 1924 interrupts the activity of the Casino, but in 1927 the authorization of the exercise of the game of chance gives to the Theater of the Opera of the Casino of Sanremo a prominent role.
The Casino Sanremo was inaugurated January 12, 1905, named Kursaal. Inside was practiced gambling, but without any official authorization. With the direct intervention of Benito Mussolini, the Royal Decree of 22 December, 1927, officially sanctioned the birth of Casino Sanremo , with legally gambling. The casino officially opened its doors January 21, 1928. Then the dealership was Societ� Anonima Casino Municipale di San Remo On April 14, 1934 the dealership changed the name to SAIT (Societa Anonima Iniziative Turistiche)..In June 1940 the casinoit was closed by decree of Ministry of Interior, because the war.The casino was reopened on December 31, 1945. At this point, the dealership was CIRT (Compagnia Italiana di Recostruzione Tourism), to whom was removed the concession on February 25 1948. The casino has reopened in late 1949. In 1953 the concession was entrusted to ATA company. After that various financial scandals cause successive changes of Dealers. In December 2001 was created Societ� Casino s.p.a. which still manages the casino.

The proliferation of casinos.
Ventimiglia, Bordighera, Alassio
At the beginning of the 1910s, the success of the Ospedaletti and Sanremo casinos led to the creation of new gaming houses all over the Ligurian Riviera, but in more ephemeral ways: built on stilts planted in the sand and wedged in the rocky, with essential architecture and huge bay windows overlooking the sea the casino of Balzi Rossi in Ventimiglia (1911), the casino of Alassio (1912) and the casino of Bordighera (1914) are temporary structures seeking a return immediate economic.

ALASSIO- First Casino

ALASSIO-Second Casino

The epic of the Alassio room is yet another example of a room that was born ephemeral to establish itself over time: built in just three months by a French company as a temporary structure, this room will remain the main place of spectacle of the city until 1936, when the poor inventory of fixtures necessitates its destruction.
Inaugurated on June 29, 1912, the Municipal Casino of Alassio is one of the longest active longest surviving game rooms during the first post-war period, and during the wealthiest seasons it hosted theater and theater productions. first-rate opera.
After only three weeks of lucrative activity, the Casino of Alassio falls on the repressive wave of the government of Giolitti against the game of chance: on July 21, 1912, a control of the police forces the CIRCLE OF FOREIGNERScircle to close. Even without the income from gambling, the Société des Bains de Mer still managed to carry out a modest operetta season,] but, crushed by debts, it declared bankruptcy on December 17, 1912. Thanks to the intervention of the Town Hall, January the court grants the concession to Auguste Cauvin Vassal and the casino theater resumes its activity, even if during the winter.
However, without the income from gambling and without municipal funding, the option of the theater turns out to be risky and unattractive: in the spring of 1914, the invitation to tender for the concession was unsuccessful and the municipal administration was obliged assume direct management of the room,
After the war, the situation changes: a new wave of repression leads to temporary closings of certain gambling halls, while the decline of the winter colony and the increase in the offer of shows in town make life at the Casino Municipal more complicated. But the end is approaching: during the autumn, under the decree of law of April 27, 1924, a new repressive wave causes the definitive closure of the gaming rooms. The Casino of Alassio continues to function as a cinema, welcoming time in times of concerts, Christmas Eve and theatrical performances. In 1936, it was destroyed.
THIS REPORT IS BASED MAINLY ON https://sht.asso.fr/organismi-meravigliosi-les-theatres-des-casinos-de-la-riviera-italienne-1884-1936/

( and several other sources like CHIPGUIDE)

In 1948, after the Second World War Alassio, Bordighera and other cities ( Bellagio, Capri, Gardone Riviera, Grado, Montecatini, Rapallo, Rimini, Salsomaggiore, Sorrento, Stresa, Taormina, Viareggio) which had casinos in the past, asked the government to authorize the reopening of these "organismi meravigliosi" (Wonderful organisms).
WITH NO SUCCESS.
UNTIL TODAY ONLY 4 CASINOS ALLOWED , the SAME AUTHORISED on 1924 ( SANREMO, VENICE, SAINT VINCENT, CAMPIONE D´ITALIA

CASINO VIAREGGIO