PADOVA·ROVIGO The heart of Emilia From Bologna to Ferrara BOLZANO TRENTO MANTOVA Ro VENEZIA Bologna, the city of a thousand porticos, ancient i u m e F P o and modern. Ferrara, the Renaissance city, whose Bondeno long broad streets run to meet the visitor arriving from the green enclosure Ferrara of its walls. Although dif- ferent, the two cities of the MODENA Torre Fossa plains have been closely Fossanova San Biagio linked over the centuries by the university, their Sant’Egidio painting, their food and Marrara now also by a journey that Malalbergo Cento links the capital of Emilia- Ponticelli Spinazzino San Pietro Boschi Portomaggiore Romagna to Ferrara. It in Casale Pegola runs from the riverside gar- dens of Lungo Navile dal San Giorgio Altedo di Piano Saletto RAVENNA Parco di Villa Angeletti all Fabbreria the way to the suspension Bentivoglio Molinella bridge at Corticella, then Funo across a classic agricultural landscape to Ferrara. Castel Maggiore Bologna, Fontana del Nettuno Corticella 5 Technical notes Depart: Bologna, Piazza del Nettuno Bologna Arrive: Ferrara, Piazza Savonarola Bologna: Piazza Maggiore Ferrara Length: 73,570 km tel. 051 239660/251947 iat.comune.bologna.it Difficulty level: suitable for everyone. Level route with a long first stretch on dirt track along the Navile. Ferrara: Castello Estense tel. 0532 299303 • www.ferrarainfo.com A Railways p p e n n Bologna/Venezia NB. i Bicycle transport available. Bologna: Basilica di San Petronio, Palazzo D’Ac- 1:375.000 n 5 km o Please check timetables and availability. cursio, Museo Morandi, Sala Borsa, Museo Civico Info: 892021 • www.trenitalia.com Archeologico, Pinacoteca Nazionale, Due Torri. 22 23 5 From Bologna to Ferrara From Bologna to Ferrara 5 Further information Bologna and Ferrara are both home to ancient universities: Ferrara’s was founded BOLOGNA in 1391 with the same privileges as Bolo- Main town of Emilia-Romagna and geo- gna, which is the oldest university in the graphically at the centre of the region, world. Bologna university is said to go internationally recognised as a city of art back to 1088, accordinggg to a committee and culture; a city of mediaeval build- of historians chaired by Giosuè Carducci. ings but with an atmosphere more of Over the centuries the two universities the 17th & 18th century, with its red brick; have been beacons of culture drawing it is the city of a thousand porticoes, old eager students from all over Europe. Both and new, sheltering both shops and the cities were also centres for great schools visitors who follow this network between of painting and have exchanged artists the major monuments. Heart of the city is and artworks over the centuries. Between Piazza Maggiore, where on one side is the the two cities runs a journey of many col- majestic Basilica of San Petronio with its ours which will fascinate the cognoscenti stairway, while right in front of you the bar and enthuse the general visitor. tables are inviting you to pause a moment. Bologna, Sostegno Battiferro lock From Piazza del Nettuno, cross Via Villa Angeletti Park spreading along the right- The Navile is evidence of a man-made water with thousands of exhibits showing work Indipendenza (one of the city’s main arteries) hand bank of the Navile canal and notable for system that for centuries influenced the and life in the Bolognese countryside in the to exit from Porta Galliera with the railway well-designed cycle paths, wide green spaces, townscape and the economic development 19th & 20th Centuries. station behind you. Here there is the beautiful wooded areas and children’s play areas. of Bologna. In the Mediaeval period it We pass through more villages of the connected Bologna with the Po di Primaro Bologna, Villa Angeletti Park Bologna countryside: Saletto, Ponticelli, and the sea. Today it is no longer navigable Pegola and Boschi. After crossing the river and is used for irrigation, but along its route Reno by a Bailey bridge we enter Ferrarese there are the fascinating old locks that once territory and continue along Via Imperiale regulated the flow of the waters. for a little way, then through Spinazzino to Following the Navile we pass the Sostegno Marrara on Via Cembalina. From here we Battiferro and the Sostegno di Corticella follow route n° 4 (Ravenna to Ferrara, p.18) before arriving in Corticella. Leaving the to Ferrara along the Po di Primaro. Navile we take the SP di Galliera main road, which is very busy but has an cycle lane. Through Castel Maggiore and Funo to San Giorgio di Piano; from here we take a cycle path to Bentivoglio, where you can see the 15th Century castle (restored around the beginning of the 20th century) which The Po di Primaro, was at one time one of under the ownership of one Bentivoglio the two principal branches of the River Po, welcomed - among other illustrious names but today it is a modest watercourse that - Dukes Ercole I & Alfonso of Ferrara and at Traghetto flows into the River Reno, Lucrezia Borgia. From Fabbreria there is a which occupies the former bed of the diversion to San Marino with its countryside Primaro until it flows into the Adriatic. museum (Museo della Civiltà Contadina) 24 25.