EMILIA ROMAGNA IN THE UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE LIST

Ferrara (in 1995), Ravenna (in 1996) and Modena (in 1997) has been named as “ Heritage of Mankind” by UNESCO.

Ravenna was the seat of the Roman Empire in the 5th century and then of Byzantine Italy until the 8th century. It has a unique collection of early Christian mosaics and monuments. All eight buildings – the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, the Neonian Baptistery, the Basilica of Sant’Apollinare Nuovo, the Arian Baptistery, the Archiepiscopal Chapel, the Mausoleum of Theodoric, the Church of San Vitale and the Basilica of Sant’Apollinare in Classe – were constructed in the 5th and 6th centuries. They show great artistic skill, including a wonderful blend of Graeco-Roman tradition, Christian iconography and oriental and Western styles. Ravenna is also where the famous poet Dante Alighieri lived in the last years of his lifeand where he is also buried.

Ferrara, which grew up around a ford over the River Po, became an intellectual and artistic centre that attracted the greatest minds of the Italian Renaissance in the 15th and 16th centuries. Here, Piero della Francesca, Jacopo Bellini and Andrea Mantegna decorated the palaces of the House of Este. The humanist concept of the “ideal city” came to life here in the neighbourhoods built from 1492 onwards by Biagio Rossetti according to the new principles of perspective. The completion of this project marked the birth of modern town planning and influenced its subsequent development. Ferrara has elegant palaces, first amongst them the Castello Estense and the Palazzo dei Diamanti which hosts prestigious exhibitions. Ferrara, where the artistical routs join us with the suggestive and hidden itineraries which tell stories of magic, is up to the more curious tourist to discover charming and magical itineraries to follow.

The magnificent 12th-century Cathedral at Modena is a supreme example of Romanesque art, the work of two great artists (Lanfranco and Wiligelmo). With its associated piazza and the soaring tower, it testifies to the strength of the faith of its builders and to the power of the Canossa dynasty who commissioned it.

Where to sleep: Youth Hostels in Ravenna, Modena and Bologna (45 km from Ferrara)