Emilia-Romagna

Emilia-Romagna is Italy's food valley: the home of Parmigiano Reggiano, Parma ham, balsamic vinegar of Modena and fresh egg pasta. Bologna, with its arcades and towers, is the capital of good eating and one of Italy's liveliest university towns.

Along the Via Emilia lie Parma, Modena, Reggio and Ferrara, while Ravenna treasures the most beautiful Byzantine mosaics in the West. On the Adriatic the Riviera of Rimini and Riccione is the classic summer holiday for Italian families.

Two souls, one region

Emilia-Romagna is in fact the union of two different lands: Emilia, to the west, with the ducal cities of Piacenza, Parma, Reggio and Modena, and Romagna, to the east, with Ravenna, Forlì, Cesena, Rimini and its coast. The Via Emilia, the Roman road laid out in 187 BC, crosses both and still links almost all the provincial capitals along a straight line at the foot of the Apennines. To the north stretches the very fertile Po plain, to the south the hills and mountains of the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines. It is one of Italy's wealthiest regions, home to famous car brands, a cuisine celebrated around the world and a tradition of hospitality that made the Romagna Riviera the cradle of Italian beach tourism.

Bologna, the learned, the fat, the red

Bologna is called the learned for its university, the oldest in the Western world, founded in 1088; the fat for its cooking; and the red for the colour of its roofs and bricks. The historic centre is crossed by almost forty kilometres of porticoes, a UNESCO site, culminating in the long arcade that climbs to the sanctuary of the Madonna di San Luca. Piazza Maggiore, with the Basilica of San Petronio and the Fountain of Neptune, is the heart of the city, and the Two Towers, Asinelli and Garisenda, are its symbol. The Quadrilatero, the historic market district, is the ideal place to taste cured meats and cheeses, and the Archiginnasio, the old seat of the university, houses the wooden Anatomical Theatre.

Modena, Parma and Motor Valley

Modena has a Romanesque cathedral, the Ghirlandina tower and Piazza Grande, a UNESCO site, and is the city of traditional balsamic vinegar and of the tenor Luciano Pavarotti. Around it lies Motor Valley: in Maranello the Ferrari Museum, in Modena the Enzo Ferrari Museum, in Sant'Agata Bolognese the Lamborghini museum, and not far away Pagani, Maserati and Ducati. Parma, the ducal city of the Farnese and the Bourbons, has the octagonal pink marble Baptistery, the Cathedral with its dome frescoed by Correggio, the wooden Teatro Farnese and the Teatro Regio, a temple of Verdi's operas. Nearby, in Busseto and Roncole, are the places linked to Giuseppe Verdi. Reggio Emilia is the city of the Tricolore, the Italian flag, born here in 1797.

Ferrara and the Po Delta

Ferrara, the city of the Este family, is a UNESCO site together with the Po Delta. The Este Castle, surrounded by its moat, dominates the centre, and the Addizione Erculea, the Renaissance extension, made it the first modern city in Europe. The walls, nine kilometres long, are best explored by bicycle, the people of Ferrara's favourite means of transport. To the east, the Po Delta Park is a world of lagoons, reed beds and fishing valleys: Comacchio, with its canals and bridges, is called little Venice, and Pomposa Abbey is a Romanesque gem alone in the countryside. The Delta is one of the best places in Italy for birdwatching, with flamingos, herons and black-winged stilts.

Ravenna, capital of mosaics

Ravenna was capital of the Western Roman Empire, of Theodoric's kingdom and of the Byzantine exarchate, and it has the most beautiful early Christian and Byzantine mosaics in the world, a UNESCO site. The Basilica of San Vitale, with the portraits of Emperor Justinian and Empress Theodora, the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia with its starry sky, Sant'Apollinare Nuovo and, just outside the city, Sant'Apollinare in Classe are unmissable. The city also has the tomb of Dante Alighieri, who died here in exile in 1321.

Rimini and the Romagna Riviera

The Romagna Riviera, from Comacchio to Cattolica, is a long line of equipped beaches, hotels, amusement parks and nightclubs. Rimini is much more than a beach resort: it has the Arch of Augustus, the Bridge of Tiberius, Leon Battista Alberti's Malatesta Temple, the Surgeon's House and a museum devoted to Federico Fellini, who was born here. Riccione is the green pearl of the Adriatic, Cesenatico has a canal harbour designed by Leonardo da Vinci with historic boats, and Cattolica closes the Riviera to the south. Inland are medieval villages such as Santarcangelo, with its caves, and San Leo, with the fortress where Cagliostro was imprisoned.

The Apennines and the villages

The Apennines of Emilia-Romagna offer forests, lakes, castles and small ski resorts such as Corno alle Scale and Cimone. Torrechiara Castle near Parma, the castles of the Duchy of Parma and Piacenza and the fortress of Canossa, linked to the famous humiliation of Emperor Henry IV, tell the story of the Middle Ages. Brisighella, with its Donkeys' Road and three hills crowned by a fortress, a tower and a sanctuary, and Dozza, with its painted walls, are among the most beautiful villages in Italy. Castell'Arquato, near Piacenza, is a perfectly preserved medieval village. The spas of Salsomaggiore, Porretta and Bagno di Romagna complete the offer.

Piacenza, Forlì and Cesena

The smaller cities along the Via Emilia deserve more attention than they get. Piacenza, the region's gateway to Lombardy, has Piazza dei Cavalli with the equestrian statues of the Farnese, the Gothic Palace and the Ricci Oddi Gallery; around it the Trebbia and Nure valleys are dotted with castles and wineries. Forlì hosts major art exhibitions in the San Domenico Museums and has an interesting district of Rationalist architecture. Cesena has the Malatestiana Library, the first public library in Europe and part of UNESCO's Memory of the World, with its manuscripts still chained to the original fifteenth-century benches.

Food and wine

Many consider Emilia-Romagna the gastronomic capital of Italy. Parmigiano Reggiano, Parma ham, traditional balsamic vinegar of Modena, mortadella from Bologna, culatello from Zibello and zampone from Modena are known all over the world. Fresh egg pasta, rolled out by hand with a long rolling pin, becomes tagliatelle with ragù, tortellini in broth, lasagne, tortelli filled with greens and passatelli. In Romagna the piadina flatbread, filled with soft squacquerone cheese and rocket, is eaten everywhere from roadside kiosks. Among the wines are sparkling red Lambrusco, Sangiovese di Romagna, Albana and the wines of the Piacenza hills.

When to go and how to get around

The art cities can be visited all year round, but spring and autumn are the ideal seasons; autumn is also the time of truffle, mushroom and chestnut festivals. Summer is the season of the Riviera, with the Pink Night festival at the end of June, while the cities can be hot and humid. In winter fog wraps the plain, but restaurants and taverns are at their best. The region has an excellent rail network: Bologna is a high-speed rail hub, and frequent regional trains link all the cities along the Via Emilia, Ferrara, Ravenna and the coast. The main airport is Bologna Marconi, alongside Rimini, Parma and Forlì.