Darsena del Sale, the place for wellness and the culture of beauty

La Darsena del Sale is an ambitious project. Built on the site of the old Darsena, built in the eighteenth century, it experiments with new boundaries of well-being, involving tourism, artistic heritage, inclusion and sharing, centred on the individual. Its strongest advocate and promoter is none other than the visionary entrepreneur Leopoldo Cavalli, also CEO of Visionnaire. Requiring an investment of around ten million euros, the project was made possible by the alliance of the public and private sectors. Today it is a major architectural contribution that respects the historicity of the place, and has been awarded the international architecture prize "Architizer A+Awards 2022" in the Architecture + Water category. This is a great source of pride for this venue, which opened in Cervia on the 1st of January 2022, and has already hosted seventeen concerts, more than twenty artists, many young talents, and some fifteen dinner shows in a spectacular and fascinating setting. Here, the industrial archaeology of the early 18th century is transformed into a contemporary space, with innovative technologies. For example, in the summer, in the waters of the Darsena, three House Boats, with electric motors, will entertain the public.

For Leopoldo Cavalli the shock was immediate: "The first time I visited the Darsena in 2017, it was abandoned, after a first intervention started in the 1980s by the architect De Carlo that had not been completed. I fell in love with it at first sight. There was this beautiful winter sunset, the sparkling glow of the sea reflected on the ancient walls that exuded salt, creating a boreal glow. Salt was once considered white gold, and was used to support an entire community. It was a magical moment. It was then that I decided, together with other partners such as Fonoprint for the music and shows, Nuage for the wellness area and Visionnaire for the design, to respond to a European Community call for tenders launched by the municipality of Cervia for the rehabilitation of this salt pond."