The Apennines Between Tuscany and Romagna in the Steps of the Great Poet
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www.viedidante.it The Apennines between Tuscany and Romagna in the steps of the great poet Florence - Scarperia e San Piero - Borgo San Lorenzo - Marradi - Brisighella - Faenza - Ravenna EMILIA ROMAGNA TOSCANA THE “VIE DI DANTE The Vie di Dante (‘Roads of Dante’) are an invaluable historical reservoir, made accessible by a renewed synergy between Emilia-Romagna and Tuscany, resulting in an interregional project with a comprehensive receptive offer and services able to meet the needs of tourists who no longer settle for a simple visit, but want to experience their holiday intensely, capturing the typicality of the territory. Thanks to this project, based on collaboration, participation and dialogue, the journey taken by Dante from Florence to Ravenna, crossing the Apennines between Emilia-Romagna and Tuscany, becomes a tourism product characterised by slow rhythms among culture and nature, following the attitude of the new tourist: reaching a form of integration that makes their stay increasingly pleasant and fun-filled. Culture, one of the essential elements of the tourism offerings in Emilia-Romagna and Tuscany, is in fact experienced as a veritable immersion in the territory, captured in all of its aspects. Retracing and visiting the places where the greatest Italian poet lived and exiled thus becomes a unique travel experience, among ancient palaces, Romanesque churches, small villages, museums and libraries, artisanal workshops and untouched nature, going on the “train” that connects Faenza to Florence via Marradi, or on the seat of a bicycle along the ancient Faenza Road, or even on foot along one of the many hiking routes between the provincial territories of Ravenna and Florence. The tourism offerings, which can be viewed on the website www.viedidante. it or are available in updated brochures at IATs (Tourist Information Offices) or sector fairs, feature the seven Municipalities of Florence, Scarperia e San Piero, Borgo San Lorenzo, Marradi, Faenza, Brisighella and Ravenna with their heritage of monuments, tradition, identity, gastronomy and wine. The Vie di Dante routes are based on and exalt two regions, enhancing the common traits which include the warmth, authenticity and spontaneity of the people, the innate vocation for hospitality, the enjoyment of the good things in life and conviviality, the fascination and timeless charm of the places, the capacity for tradition and innovation, culture and enjoyment, quality and convenience to co-exist. This brochure presents the territories involved in a dynamic and coordinated way, describing their excellences alongside further information and curiosities. It is a valuable handbook able to best guide even the most demanding tourist. 3 Rejoice, O Florence, since thou art so great, That over sea and land thou beatest thy wings, And throughout Hell thy name is spread abroad! FLORENCE (If., Canto XXVI) n itinerary that will lead that is most linked to the typical spirituality you to discover a lesser of Dante’s era is undoubtedly the stunning known Florence compared Romanesque Abbey of San Miniato al Monte, to the iconic Florence of the also mentioned in Purgatory (Canto VII). But Renaissance: the Florence alongside these places – experienced more where Dante Alighieri lived from birth (1265) or less directly by the Supreme Poet – there Ato exile (1302). For Dante it was inevitably a exist many other testimonies, from all periods, place of love and pain, which often features in that document how much the city is strongly the Divine Comedy. interwoven with the spirit of Dante. This is the In these years Florence underwent a period of case of the many portraits of Dante, painted intense transformation in all fields (cultural, from Medieval times to the nineteenth century; political, religious, artistic, economic, urbanistic) the cycles of paintings more or less inspired which deeply marked the city’s identity. It was by the Comedy; the 33 famous Dante plaques precisely in the later decades of the thirteenth mainly concentrated in the medieval quarter. century that the symbolic buildings were built, Keeping the legacy of the Supreme Poet such as the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, alive and current is the main task, including Palazzo Vecchio, the Basilica of Santa Croce through the traditional Lectura Dantis, by the and of Santa Maria Novella. Dante Society whose headquarters is in the old One of the places, alongside the Baptistery, Palazzo dell’Arte della Lana (Wool Guild). 4 THE BAPTISTERY “San Giovanni’s lovely baptistery” interest, in the religious heart of the (Inferno XIX.17), is the affectionate city. Probably erected in the eleventh name given to the Florentine Baptistery century, on ancient remains from the of San Giovanni by Dante; the place Roman era, it has an octagonal plan. where the poet was baptised, and While the outside is conservatively which he thinks of while hoping to adorned with geometric marble return to his birthtown (Paradise, decoration, the inside shines thanks Canto XXV). to the grandiose golden mosaic of Dedicated to the Patron Saint of the dome, dominated by the figure of Florence, San Giovanni Battista Christ the Judge, solemn, at the centre (St. John Baptist), the Baptistery is a of the Last Judgement, probably a Romanesque building, of extraordinary source of inspiration for the Comedy. - Borgo San Lorenzo Scarperia e Piero Marradi Brisighella Faenza Ravenna Florence 5 TYPICAL WINE AND GASTRONOMY PRODUCTS The typical dishes are simple and straightforward: from the famous “Florentine” steak, thick and rare, to the starters from farming tradition often based on bread such as the Pappa al Pomodoro (tomato and bread soup) and the Ribollita (vegetable and bread soup), all flavoured with extra virgin olive oil. What can we say about the Lampredotto (cow stomach), served in a sandwich, which can be enjoyed from a kiosk in full street food style. The typical desserts are linked to festivals or the season, of which we note the two best; grape schiacciata (flat bread) and Florentine schiacciata (a sponge cake), typical of the Carneval. In terms of wine, this is the land of Chianti, with various DOC and DOCG designations: full-bodied reds, fresh and delicate whites and the famous sweet wine or Vin Santo. The specialities of Florentine cuisine can be tasted in the city in Michelin star restaurants, trattorias or wine cellars, suitable for all budgets. 6 PORTRAITS The memory of Dante lives on through the many portraits dotted around the city, testimony of the extraordinary fame that has always accompanied the Poet, from the fourteenth century until today. The oldest depictions of Dante can be found in the National Museum of Bargello (Chapel of Mary Magdalene, work of Giotto and workshop), in the Palazzo dei Giudici e Notai (on Via del Proconsolo), in the Cappellone degli Spagnoli (Spanish Chapel) of Santa Maria Novella, by Andrea Bonaiuti. One of the most representative painted portraits is undoubtedly Dante and the Divine Comedy (Domenico di Michelino, 1465, Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore). Dante features in the series of frescoes Illustrious People painted around 1450 by Andrea del Castagno, and now visible in the former church of San Piero Scheraggio – part of the Uffizi Gallery – (one of the places used, including by Dante, for political meetings before the construction of the Palazzo dei Priori, i.e. Palazzo Vecchio). There are also many sculptures, nineteenth century monuments dedicated to him, made in a period in which devotion to the Great Italians of the past was very popular. The Basilica of Santa Croce, Pantheon delle Itale Glorie, still houses two: one is the statue in the churchyard, a work by Enrico Pazzi, inaugurated in the centre of the square for the Dante celebrations of 1865; the other, inside, is the Cenotaph of Dante by Stefano Ricci (1829), a rhetoric monument that shows the Poet alongside the allegories of Italy and Poetry. Dating back to 1842 is the statue of Dante located, alongside other illustrious Tuscans, in one of the 28 niches of the Loggiato Vasariano of the Uffizi gallery. - Borgo San Lorenzo Scarperia e Piero Marradi Brisighella Faenza Ravenna There are several examples of the controversial funeral mask in the city: at the Museum-House of Dante, in the Palazzo Vecchio and at the Bargello. Florence 7 TYPICAL ARTISANAL PRODUCTS Works that you won’t see in the museums; refined, the result of mastery, research innovation and tradition, unique works. These are artisanal handicrafts. Silver, gold, leather, glass, ceramics, silk, essences, embroidery, shoemaking, items that take shape in the artisanal workshops of Florence, especially in Oltrarno. The artisan world is made up of people who conserve and hand down an invaluable human capital. The artisanal vocation of Florence has lead to the birth of two events dedicated to this sector. Artigianato e Palazzo, which seeks to redevelop the figure of the artisan in present day, and is carried out each year at the Corsini Gardens. The Fortezza da Basso hosts the International Handicraft Exhibition, founded in 1931, with participation from artisans from all over the world. 8 DANTE’S QUARTER This quarter is enclosed between Piazza it is just a short walk from the Church della Signoria square, Orsanmichele of Santa Margherita de’ Cerchi (the church, Torre della Castagna tower, the “Church of Dante”) where, according oratory of Buonomini di San Martino to tradition, the poet married Gemma and the Badia Fiorentina church. This Donati and met Beatrice (the Portinary is the medieval heart of Florence, with family had its tombs here). The its alleyways and its characteristic greatest number of Dante plaques are house-towers, used for both civil concentrated in this area, with quotes and military purposes. The House of taken from his masterpiece, affixed in Dante, a nineteenth century replica the early twentieth century to keep the of a house-tower, houses the museum link between Dante and the places of the same name that documents the and personalities mentioned in the life and works of the supreme poet; Comedy alive.