Half of Emilia Romagna territory is formed
by the Apennines; the other half is a large plain, which reaches to the Adriatic
Sea. The coastline is flat and sandy, with a typical lagoon and marshy area (the Valli of Comacchio).
Cities:
The regional capital is Bologna. Other
important cities are Parma, Ferrara, Modena, Piacenza, Ravenna, Forlì, Reggio
Emilia, Rimini.
Art:
Important Roman traces can be found
in Rimini and in Ravenna, capital of
the Western Roman Empire in the
fifth and sixth centuries A.D., with
its magnificent monuments of the
Christian-Byzantine period (the
exquisite mosaics). Examples of the
Romanesque Longobard style can be
found in the Cathedrals of Modena,
Piacenza e Ferrara; the Baptistery
of Parma offers the visitors some
important sculptural works. Piacenza
and Bologna have valuable examples
of Gothic style, but also of the
Renaissance and Baroque styles.
Museums:
In Bologna: the Pinacoteca Nazionale,
with three sections devoted to
painting, from the fourteenth to the
eighteenth century; the Museum of
Industrial Art, which exhibits
furniture, objects and sacred
relics, from the sixteenth to the
eighteenth century; the Civic
Archaeologic Museum, which houses
very interesting prehistoric and
Etruscan relics. Ferrara has the
Cathedral’s Museum, which holds
sacred relics, paintings and
sculptures; the Civic Museum, which
displays bronze, ceramics and
frescoes; the National Archaeologic
Museum, that houses precious
ceramics (Attic vases with red
figures); the Pinacoteca Nazionale
with pictorial works from the
fourteenth century to the present
day. Ravenna, ancient link between
the Roman and the Byzantine worlds,
has the National Museum with many
relics of the Roman and Early
Christian Age; the Archiepiscopal
Museum with an interesting
collection of works from the Ancient
Cathedral. In Modena there are the
famous Estense Gallery, where
marvelous paintings can be admired;
the Estense Museum, the Museum of
Risorgimento and the Estense
Epigraphic Museum.
To be visited:
In Ravenna: the splendid Mausoleum
of Galla Placidia, erected in the
fifth century A.D. and the tomb of
the great poet Dante; the Mausoleum
of Theodoric and the magnificent
basilica of Sant’Apollinare in
Classe.
