Montecatini Terme is an Italian municipality (comune) of circa 20,000 inhabitants in the province of Pistoia, Tuscany, central Italy.
In 1889, thanks to an international medical congress in Florence, the city commenced activity in the field of thermal medicine.
Its thermal waters were an inexhaustible source of health, known since Roman times,.The magnificence of a beautiful city was built around them. In the 1800s, kings and queens, politicians and bankers, actors and dancers and Presidents of the Republic walked down the Viale dei Bagni in Montecatini.
On 1905 Bagni di Montecatini became an autonomous municipal entity. On October 1928 the name of the Bagni di Montecatini was changed to Montecatini Terme.
By the beginning of the century the tourist offer had been perfected and diversified. The hotels had grown in number and quality, there was also a need to combine care with fun, relaxation, sport. Trendy restaurants, theaters, nightclubs, a casino and celebrities began to frequent the city.
Between the end of the nineteenth century and the first decades of the twentieth century Montecatini became a meeting point of international renown,politics business men, etc
In the first half of the 20th century the constructions and renovations of the town alternate following the canons of the belle époque that takes on in Montecatini one of the maximum applications of art nouveau style.
From 1904 to 1915 the Torretta and Excelsior establishments were born ( Excelsior was initially designed to host the Casino Municipale Excelsior . The original complex was inaugurated on June 27, 1907.Became a thermal spa establishment on 1915)
Mussolini also went to see the establishments to see how the money given by the state for the restoration had been spent .
In 1928 it changed its name from Bagni di Montecatini to Montecatini Terme, and then established itself in its current form in 1940,.With the interlude of the Second World War, Montecatini, was first occupied by the Germans and then by the Anglo-Americans .In 1958 the state regained possession of the baths, symbolizing a second phase with the reconstruction of the Redi and Excelsior baths.
“ Grace Kelly and Ranieri of Monaco, Sofia Loren, Totó, Audrey Hepburn, Christian Dior, Versace, Henry Kissinger or even Marie Curie were some of the most famous visitors to the modern Mantecatini Terme, all listed t the walk of fame in main street Viale Verdi”.
THE KURSAAL, CASINO DE MONTECATINI TERME and CASINO MUNICIPALE EXCELSIOR


On the first day of July 1907 the Kursaal was born,as a temple of Opera and Operetta. The Owners were are Messrs. De Marchi and Gherini from Milan .The Kursaal becomes the symbol of an era with its Liberty style. The theater had its real consecration in 1910 On 1915 , once the elevation on the left side of the building is completed, the Casino de Montecatine Terme is installed in the large hall. The whole area, also had a large theater, coffee hall, concert hall, foreigners club and shops. A destination of great appeal which could only be accessed in evening dresses.

In Montecatini, the first news of a gambling room dates back to 1816 located in the upper rooms of the Locanda Maggiore. It was a “Casino” (Club) with very restricted access. It will be the meeting place for over 90 years for selected guests.
In Montecatini,on 18th century two initial inns were built.
“An open terrace was set up between the two initial inns, protected by a marquee, while the Regio Casino (Royal Casino) was set up in a large room below, with rooms for games, dancing and billiards. The last twenty years of the 1800s saw the Locanda Maggiore run by the famous Pistoian entrepreneur Napoleone Melani, who enhanced the potential of a refined hotel with the electric lighting system and the creation of an arena for shows, the Variety Theater. Verdi would have been a guest for 19 years until his death.”(http://www.valdinievoleoggi.it/a10616-la-locanda-maggiore.html).

from "Dictionaire du Baigneur et du Touriste April1,1886"

Verdi at Locanda Maggiore

In 1907 gambling will find more suitable accommodation at the recently inaugurated CASINO MUNICIPALE EXCELSIOR and finally at the KURSAAL on 1915, where was installed CASINO DE MONTECATINI TERME and the gambling has worked for several years.
Montecatini experienced its international fame as a city of entertainment and well-being being a destination for artists and show-business people attracted by a famous holiday resort.
The Kursaal, adopting the model of German Spas, combined gambling and thermal waters, transformed the resort in a combined success.

In the meantime, ownership passes to the Societ� Anonima Kursaal Montecatini (Kursaal Montecatini anonymous company ) with headquarters in Rome . Between 1927 and 1928 the Company carried out various extension works , making various structural interventions , which transformed the Kursaal into a more functional building.
Between the main entrance and the entry of the Theate, a beautiful colonnade contained prestigious shops, gambling room , art exhibition halls, night club. In the center, under the open sky, the very popular ballroom.
After the World War, after the storm of the war, Montecatini began to feel the need for a renewal and modernization of all its accommodation facilities including the public entertainment venues, outdated. The company that owned the Kursaal started the construction of the new Kursaal Cinema Theater, completely demolishing the old one and building on the same area. It was inaugurated on September 1957 .
From its splendor to today's, the Kursaal has only saved the façade.
We don´t know when the gambling was ended.

Picture from https://www.montecatinibenessere.it/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/fiches-kursaal.jpg

CASINO EXCELSIOR ( Municipal Casino) (1907-1915)