The city of Reggio Emilia itself is a Po River Valley town par excellence, with porticoes, bicycles, and intense human relationships. Guido Piovene, in his Viaggio in Italia decribes Reggio Emilia as "a working town characterized, nevertheless, by a certain indolence". A modern, productive town with a sensual, hedonistic, "homegrown" peacefulness about it that makes it a very livable place. Reggio Emilia also preserves traces left by the years in the fields of art, architecture, and culture. Then there is the province, -with its "strong points" being the great river Po, the "little capitals" that dot its countryside, a view of the horizon across the river valley, the castles and fortresses in the mountains from the time of Mathilde's rule, the grandeur of the Bismantua Rock, the sometimes explosive, sometimes fleeting beauty of the upper Apennines. In addition to all this, there are many other stimulating things that an attentive visitor -will notices: music, shows, theatre, exhibitions, folklore, festivals, gastronomy, lakes and rivers, villages, and sports activities. It is all a matter of having sharp "antennae", and of "andamento lento".
Art and History
Several minor jewels of sacred architecture trace a quiet, appealing 'spiritual path' through the town, in the cool, protective shade of Reggio's churches. While the statues of Adam and Eve by Prospero Sogari, situated above the entrance to the Cathedral, recall the theme of the creation, the austerity of the Baptistry, with a fresco of the Baptism of Christ by Caprioli and medieval structures that came to light during recent restoration, leads back to the essential simplicity of faith. Outstanding works of art in the town's other churches (most of which are designed in Renaissance and Baroque style) are the frescoes and altarpieces in the Blessed Virgin of the Ghiara's Basilica, with the masterpiece, "Crucifixion" by Guercino, and important works by Ludovico Carracci, Alessandro Tiarini, Carlo Bononi, Lionello Spada, Luca Ferrari and other artists from the 17th century. There is an extraordinary 16th century wooden chancel in St. Prospero’s Basilica, with splendid Venetian inlaying depicting country scenes, still life, and city skylines. Surprising for the way their volumes are articulated, and for the variety of styles incorporated behind the square appearance of the façade, are three oratories connected to each other inside St. Girolamo and St. Vitale’s church. The simplicity of the small 15th century cloister at San Nicolo’s church balances the grandeur of the panoramic view in St. Peter’s cloisters. The small yet majestic front of the church of Christ is a concentration of baroque style. At times the silence of the interior of a church, where the noise of the town is muted, or the humidity perfumed with wisps of incense is enough to be able to experience a moment of peace and serenity.
The Gardens
Over the 150 years since they were first opened, Reggio Emilia's public gardens have gradually become a sort of oasis in the center of the town, a small forest where life slows down, where the intense green of rare, majestic trees (some astonishingly large) allows taking time out for oneself. It allows a pleasant escape from the tempo of everyday life, a beneficial immersion in nature. The town's porticoes and piazzas are another integral part of the town's heartbeat. These are areas dedicated to encounters and to chatting sessions, where the true Emilian character comes out and the distinct accents of the Reggian dialect dominate. Of special importance are the oldest squares. These include Piazza Prampolini (the "Big Square"), with the Cathedral, the Romanesque Baptistery, the municipal building, and the statue representing the Crostolo River; adjacent Piazza St. Prospero (connected to Piazza Prampolini by the Broletto portico) •where the weekly outdoor market is held, and not far off, Piazza ontanesi. The Secchia Canal once flowed under this square, which is now protected by a thick growth of trees and serves as a sort of lounge dedicated to conversation and children's roller skate racing.
The setting up of a school for talented theatrical scenographers between the 17th and 18th centuries, the interest in the theatre demonstrated by Prince Francesco d'Este, the construction of the theatre begun in 1740 to replace the old one which had been destroyed in a fire, and the appearance of the scenographer Francesco Fontanesi around the second half of the century, all contributed to a favorable environment for the development of theatrical activity and language in Reggio Emilia. This predisposition was borne out in 1851 by the decision to build a new theatre on part of an area of the old town, to replace the 18th-century one, which had also been damaged by fire. Today the Municipal Theatre and the nearby Ariosto Theatre offer full-scale theatre productions and shows, with a rich yearly programme of concerts including classical music, opera, drama and dance, and various special series dedicated to jazz, contemporary music, children's theatre, and the Aterballetto ballet school, which prepares young talent for the stage.
In an attempt to associate several of the most important events that took place in Reggie's history with the great events of our national history, we can perhaps single out the proclamation of the Cispadane Republic and the adoption of the first three-colored Italian Hag on January 7, 1797 in the hall which now serves as town council hall. This was probably the most significant moment in the modern history of the town. By the same token, we may say that the focal point in the contemporary history of Reggio was the terrible period during the armed resistance against Nazism and Fascism, in which the town and its province shed a great deal of blood. Today an important part of the cultural life of the town revolves around the A. Panizzi Public Library, the "most beautiful nursery schools in the world", the fledging yet already proven university, and the A. Peri Music Institute. Several historical buildings have also been converted into sites for cultural events, such as the St. Domenico (ex-Stalloni) cloisters, which house the Office for Municipal Culture and also important exhibitions. The province has renovated the Magnani Building. On the corner of the building is a Janus with two faces that seems to look metaphorically both into the past in order to preserve the memory of our history and into the future towards the prospective life of the town.
These are the entryway into a small realm of memory, where traces of the past lure the visitor's attention past colored mosaics in the atrium to the rational enthusiasm expressed in Lazzaro Spallanzani's 18th-century collection, and on to the pale-ethnological section where Gaetano Chierici's original collection is located. Following this are the zoological and ethnographical collections, the herbarium, the marble gallery, the new pre-historical and proto-historical collections, the new section dedicated to the town of Reggio as it was in Roman times, and the numismatic collection. In the Fontanesi Art Gallery, which serves to document the evolution of Reggian artistic culture from the l4th century to the first half of the 20th, there are exhibits of pottery, silver objects, fabrics, weapons, frescoes and paintings. Outstanding among the works from the last two centuries are the paintings and landscapes by Gaetano Chierici, and Cirillo Manicardi and Lazzaro Pasini's paintings, which bear a social message, along •with the neoclassical works of Prospero Minghetti and the Romantic charm and lyricism of the atmospheres in Domenico Pellizzi, Alfonso Chierici, and Antonio Pontanesi's works. There is also the symbolism of Augusto Mussini, Ottorino Davoli's color research, and the artistic evolution of Renato M. Mazzacurati. Last of all is the Parmiggiani Gallery, contained in an eclectic-style building erected during the 20's. It is a mixed collection of works from the 19th and 20th century French market.
The Great Po River
The great river, heart of the Po River Valley, traces the natural borders of the province and the region with wide and sinuous meanderings. On its lazy way to the sea, it cuts across landscapes made up of enormous horizontal spaces. Serafino Prati's "tranquil, silent waters of the lazy Po" are part of a relationship between nature, as defined by the river's flow, and humans, who have changed the river's course by building high dikes along it to defend themselves against the sudden, uncontrollable fury of its floods. The roads that run along the dikes offer the traveler the lines of a faraway horizon, and provide an overall view of the landscape that isn't seen when riding past the regular lines of poplars along the high water bed, or when the fog sketches intermittent scenes out of which places and things emerge only fleetingly. In the river valley, the villages tell stories of a way of life that flows tranquilly, offspring of a civilization that was used to gathering in the squares and under the porticoes, with the continual passing of bicycles that are testimony to the flatness of the land. The great hallmarks from our past are the monuments and buildings of the "little capitals" in this "land of water" and of other important towns in the river valley.
To name a few, there is the majestic grandeur of Bentivoglio Building, with the frescoes of the "Giants" in Gualtieri's perfectly square piazza, the statue of Ferrante Gonzaga and the Cathedral in the center of Guastalla. Around Reggio, there is a route that takes in the fortress at Novellara, with the rooms in the Gonzaga Museum with frescoes by Leiio Orsi, the Princes' Building in Correggio, the impressive fortress in Scandiano, and the fortress in Montecchio. The civilization and culture of the river valley are narrated through the cheerful simplicity of naive painting, which "exploded" as a pictorial genre in the impetuous work of Ligabue, now housed in the museum at Luzzara. Luzzara is known for the literary and cinematographic contributions of Cesare Zavattini, the "man of the Po", and for the giant fresco called A Town, a living, intense portrait of the town that combines the words of Zavattini with extraordinary images by Paul Strand. Not far from here is the place where "Peppone" and "Don Camillo'"s literary and cinematographic arguments echo. They are the main characters in the books by Giovanni Guareschi, the memory of which is preserved in the museum at Brescello dedicated to them.
The Canossa Castle is noted especially for one of the most well known historical incidents that befell during the "investiture struggle", the humiliation of Henry IV. In January 1077, the emperor waited outside the castle three days, wearing penitential dress, for Pope Gregory VII's pardon after having been excommunicated. This had freed the emperor's subjects from the obligation of loyalty to him, and for political reasons, he had asked that it be revoked. Mathilde interceded on behalf of the emperor, and pardon was granted. Peace reigned between the papacy and the empire for a short time after, followed by a fierce war that went on for decades. Today, all that remains of Canossa is part of the city wall, along with the objects held in the small museum inside the castle. In its day, Canossa was a stronghold in the defense system created by the Canossa family along the road leading from the river valley to Tuscany (and Rome). This system was made up of a thick network of fortresses, castles and watchtowers. Rossena, a true fortress, is the best preserved of these. Carpineti, which was Mathilde's residence for a long period of time, has recently been restored and opened to the public. Bianello is the only ruin left of the Four Castles, and Sarzano is currently being restored.
There are also numerous churches from the period in this area, due to the fact that Mathilde promoted construction and renovation of churches in order to put into practice the Pope's project for reform. The style is Romanesque, inspired by the monastic churches, with simple facades and basic structural elements with the chancel reserved for the monks and for prayer. The chancel was separated from the nave, which was reserved for the •worshipers. The most interesting churches are those in Toano, Pianzo, Paullo, Beleo; the abbey church in Marola, the ruins of the church at St. Vitale, ' and small St. Andrew's Church next to the Carpineti Castle. Following an economic revival and an increase in population due to changes made by the Canossa family (plowing the land and draining swamps), the existing villages grew and new ones sprang up, often near fortified settlements where the people could take refuge in case of danger.
The Bismantua Rock
This great sandstone monolith, that suddenly juts up with its vertical walls out of the fields and woods of the mountain landscape, dominates the town of Castelnovo ne' Monti with its imposing square mass, creating a detached view. It looks "alien", like something that landed here from outer space rather than a mountain that gradually emerged from the depths of the ocean and that "slid" all the way here from the Ligurian-Tyrrhenian basin. One may walk to the top of the rock on paths, or climb the sides to the plateau on top, covered with fields of grass alternating with hazelnut, cornelian cherry and hornbeam woods. Prom the top of Bismantua Rock, looking out over the' Secchia Valley and the far-away line of the plain, one " understands Dante's reference to it in the Divine Comedy: "You can go through St. Leo and get down to Noli, / or climb up to the top of Bismantova, / and keep on you feet; but here you have to fly". (Purgatory, IV, 25-27).
The Giants Park
Giant's Park hangs between earth and sky, -where the view is unobstructed and the line of the horizon creates a feeling of space that calms the mind and reconciles one with life. Time slows down here; there is a quieter tempo to life. The wind blows; there is space to breathe in. This regional park in the high Reggian Apennine range has an area of more than 23,000 hectares spread over the various municipalities on the ridge, and includes several areas that belong to the whole territory, plus a wide pre-park zone. The park covers a considerable variety of highly interesting natural environments. The landscape includes deep valleys and steep ravines with cool streams running down them. There are small, charming mirrors of water, and wide, shady forests of chestnut and beech wood that lead onto prairies and highland moors, covered with low vegetation that is typical of areas at high elevations. All along the mountain ridge, from Piacenza to Romagna, the trails of the Great Apennine Excursion offer varied and alluring hiking routes at different levels of difficulty. Parliament is currently studying a project that would change Giant's Park into a national park, joining it to the Orecchiella Regional Park on the Tuscan side of the mountains.
Bologna