Surrounded by Matildic Castles and Renaissance villages, it is also crossed by the echoes of the cinematographic ideological battles between Don Camillo and Peppone. Reggio Emilia is the town of the Tricolor, which has its current flag in the theme of food and wine and culture, launching an invitation to continue on the Destination Emilia route, losing itself in the rocks and flavors, floating with the imagination on the waters of the Po.
Built in the late 1400s, the Broletto embodies the charm of the mysterious passage almost entirely line covered in the heart of Reggio Emilia; where the eighteenth-century decorations and a procession of shops and clubs connects Piazza Prampolini and Piazza San Prospero, home to a weekly market that boasts the splendid setting enclosed between the neoclassical facade of the ancient patronal church, the neoclassical suggestions of urban architecture and the Madonna and Child who, from the Duomo tower, seems to dominate and protect all the underlying humanity with its triumphal expression.
The result of numerous changes made since its construction around 857, the Duomo was reopened to the public in 2010, in a renewed guise and enhanced by works by contemporary artists such as Ettore Spalletti, Hidetoshi Nagasawa and Claudio Parmiggiani, called to offer a personal interpretation of the synthesis and dialogue between past and present. Particularly valuable, inside, an Assumption of the Virgin Mary with enthroned St. Peter and St. Jerome attributed to Guercino.
Crossing the Broletto, you reach Piazza Prampolini - for Reggiani citizens also known as Piazza Grande - where, to show itself in all its historical pride is the Baptistery of San Giovanni Battista, a Latin cross building dating back to the 12th century with a Renaissance style facade at the end of the fifteenth century it houses of the fresco with Baptism of Christ by Francesco Caprioli. As a curious point of contact between the sacred and the profane, the references for commercial measures outside are traditionally the origin of the famous saying "Saint John does not want to deceive”.
Creative town and homeland of the poet Ludovico Ariosto, Reggio Emilia speaks also through its own places dedicated to the representation of live entertainment, among which stands out the Romolo Valli Municipal Theater, part of a large complex set on a space of about 4 thousand square meters.
An unmissable stop in the city that gave birth to the Italian flag is the Tricolore Museum, set up inside the Palazzo del Comune, in the rooms facing the Sala del Tricolore. On display, documents and relics relating to the history of the flag and the important nucleus of works from the "Ninety artists for one flag" project.
The visit begins with the redeveloped spaces on the ground floor, entitled Tricolore Inspiration, where the Tricolor Museum opens up to confrontation with contemporary art and creativity, with permanent exhibitions and workshops. On the first floor, the Tricolor Flag section (former Napoleonic room) documents the history of the political events of Reggio Emilia from 1796 to the beginning of the Restoration. On the second floor, in the Italian Tricolore section (former Risorgimento hall) materials and relics are exhibited ranging from the Restoration to the completion of the National Unity until 1897, the year of the celebrations for the first centenary of the Tricolor which culminated with the famous speech by Giosuè Carducci.
The itinerary ends in the eighteenth-century Sala del Tricolore, a building bordering the Casotti palace, where on 7 January 1797 the delegates of the cities of Bologna, Ferrara, Modena and Reggio Emilia decreed and proclaimed the birth of the green, white and red banner as the emblem of Cispadana Republic.
In the context of a tourism outside the large and saturated canonical routes, the town and its enchanting province are proposed as a starting point for discovering the amazing and secret wealth of a minor Italy, but only in size, which guards authentic jewels of art and history.
