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Sulla riva c'è il nascondiglio dove i bambini giocavano.

Sulla riva c'è il nascondiglio dove i bambini giocavano.
On the shore there is the hiding place where the children used to play.
From Lesson 261:Relative pronouns of location (dove)·Italian

Questions & Answers about Sulla riva c'è il nascondiglio dove i bambini giocavano.

Why is dove used here instead of in cui?
Both dove and in cui can mean "where" or "in which" when referring to a physical place like il nascondiglio (the hiding place). Dove is much more common and natural in everyday spoken Italian, while in cui sounds slightly more formal. You can use either one here without changing the meaning.
Could I just use che instead of dove to link the sentence?
No, while English speakers sometimes use "that" for everything, in Italian you cannot use che to indicate a location where an action takes place. To refer back to a place, you must use a locative pronoun like dove or a preposition plus cui (like in cui).
Why does the sentence use the imperfect tense giocavano instead of the passato prossimo?
The imperfect tense is used here because the action was habitual. The English translation "used to play" tells us this wasn't a one-time event, but rather something the children did repeatedly over an ongoing period of time in the past.
Is the noun nascondiglio related to a verb?
Yes! It comes from the verb nascondere (to hide). Adding suffixes like -iglio to a verb root is a common way in Italian to build a noun that represents the place or tool used for that specific action.

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