Things to see in Reggio Emilia
Lying on the ancient Via Emilia, some 25km north-west of Modena, Reggio Emilia (officially Reggio nell’Emilia, but more simply just ‘Reggio’) is as old as its neighbours. The Roman road came first in fact, as a staging post along the way, starting life as a forum named ‘Lepidi’ then ‘Lepidum Regium’, then ‘Regium’ and thus to Reggio. Falling into decline at the end of the Roman Empire it suffered the usual depradations at the hands of successive waves of Barbarians and Franks, before becoming a comune in the eleventh century.
After the usual internicine warfare that beset medieval northern Italy, Reggio became a Duchy in 1452 and was under the rule of the Este family (famously the rulers of Ferrara). It jumped back and forth between the Estes and the Popes until the final collapse of the Este dynasty in the late 1700s. It came under the governance of Napoleon and his shortlived Cispadane Republic (a puppet Italian state under French protection). Reggio became an Este possession again for a while before becoming part of Piemonte, eventually becoming part of the united Italy in 1860.
Rapid growth in the late 19th century led to the rather unfortunate removal of the medieval defensive walls (hard to blame the Reggiana folk for failing to anticipate just how attractive these would have been to tourists a hundred or so years on). Reggio has a strong socialist tradition that grew up at the close of the 19th century and brought the opprobium of fascist Mussolini upon their heads.
* Two central squares of Piazza Prampolini and Piazza San Prospero, with its Palazzo del Municipio. This central area is made all the more attractive with its cobbled streets being closed to traffic. As in Ferrara and Lucca, cycling is the popular way for getting about and perfect for exploring the city.
* Basilica di San Prospero dates from the tenth century. Dedicated to Bishop Prosper of Reggio, it was rebuilt in the early 16th century, and is strangely hemmed in by the buildings around, giving it a curiously off-balance aspect. The facade has 11 statues of the saints, sited in niches; it has ornate columns and six lions in pink Verona marble. Alongside the octagonal campanile appears remarkably plain. Altarpieces by Tommaso Laureti and Ludovico Carracci.
* Palazzo del Capitano del Popolo, dating from 1280 and restored in 1432. From here was proclaimed the Italian tricolour as the new official flag of Italy, on the formation of Napoleon’s Cispadane Republic (predating the actual formation of Italy by several decades).
* Museo Civici is based on an 18th century private collection of fossils, painting and archeology.
* The Duomo or cathedral is a complete mishmash of styles. On its base building, dating from the 9th to 12th centuries is a 16th century reconstruction. Within are painting by Palma the Younger, Alesandro Tiarini and Guercino. Without it has 16th century marble overlaying a Romanesque facade, with the curious Mannerist sculptures of Adam and Eve. The apse and crypt remain from the original church, which is surmounted by a massive octagonal copper tower.
* Galleria Parmeggiani has a good collection of Italian, Flemish and Spanish painting, sculpture and bronzes, textiles and costumery.
* Other important churches include the baroque Basilica della Ghiara; Christ’s Oratory; the Church of St Augustine; the Church of St Peter, by Giulio della Torre; and the church of San Giovannino with baroque paintings by Lorenzo Franchi, Sisto Badalocchio, Tommaso Sandrini, Tiarini and Paolo Guidotti.
* Important palazzi include the Palazzo Ducale from the 1700s and the Palazzo Magnani. Also see the neoclassical Teatro Municipiale.
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