Tom`s travels: Reggio Emilia (08/01/2022)

On our last day trip from Vicenza, we decided to head to visit the city of Reggio Emilia, in the Emilia-Romagna region. The whole family joined, so it was me, Ania, William, mom, and dad. After about 1h 30 drive we reached the city and found parking right next to the cemetery just outside the old town. From there we then headed on to visit the city on foot. We walked through the pretty narrow streets filled with colorful houses as is typical in this region and happily noticed how due to its ancient roman origin the city featured an orderly simple gird plan with straight streets. We then passed in front of the church of San Giorgio, with its baroque facade, but found it closed. Continuing onwards we then reached the central and main square, Piazza Prampolini, also known as Piazza del Duomo. The square was bordered by some of the city's main monuments; to the north the Palazzo del Monte with its clock tower, to the east the Cathedral, and to the south the town hall. One very interesting thing we found was a plaque set on the wall of the town hall which read that in the nearby bishop's palace in 1797 Jozef Wybicki wrote the Mazurek Dąbrowskiego which would then become the national hymn of Poland. Here we then decided to head in and visit the Duomo, originally built in a Romanesque style but later heavily modified. The facade presented an unfinished renaissance 16th-century cover that concealed the large interior consisting of a mix of different styles, renaissance, mannerist and baroque. There were nice altars tombs and two cupolas, the main central one and another to the side. After the visit to the church, we then headed on to visit a part of the town hall which is open to the public. In fact, it is here that on 7 January 1797, the flag of Italy was born. The Italian national colors appeared for the first time in Genoa on a tricolor cockade on 21 August 1789, anticipating by seven years the first green, white, and red Italian military war flag, which was adopted by the Lombard Legion in Milan on 11 October 1796. With the descent of Napoleon into Italy, Reggio Emilia became part of the newly created sovereign Italian State, the Cispadane Republic and it was here that the first flag was seen eventually becoming the national flag of a sovereign Italian state. Like all tricolors, it was inspired by the French flag, which at the time was a symbol of freedom against the states of the ancien régime. So as we entered the building we visited the well-made and free museum, known as the Museo del Tricolore whose collection is made up of relics related to the Italian flag and its birth. The highlight of the museum though was the impressive Sala del Tricolore, a historical hall that currently serves as the council chamber of the comune of Reggio Emilia but was once designed as the archive of the ducal family of Este in 1768. It featured an oval shape surrounded by beautiful wooden balconies. It is here that on January 7, 1797, the Italian national flag was born, hence the name of the hall. After the visit, it was time to eat. We walked shortly to reach Piazza Fontanesi where we stopped at the Mangiamore restaurant to have lunch. We picked it because it served vegan and vegetarian food and I had daal with rice. After lunch we then continued the visit to the old town, walking through the nice alleyways and streets until we reached the eastern edge of the city center where the Chiostri di San Pietro are located. These are two cloisters, a small and a larger one, part of the church of San Pietro. Nowadays they are part of a museum complex that usually hosts temporary modern exhibitions, but the cloister can still be visited freely. We first walked through the small cloister, dating to the 16th century in a nice elegant renaissance style and with traces of frescoes still remaining here and there. The large cloister, which has sides double those of the smaller one, is much more scenic and grandiose and with a style that tends more toward Mannerism. The nearby church of San Pietro was closed so we decided to continue on along the main street, Via Emilia San Pietro, which once coincided with the ancient Roman road, Via Emilia which gave its name to the city and the whole region. Along the street, we saw many nice palaces and houses, probably the most beautiful and sought-after in the city. At the end of the street, we reached the small square, Piazza del Monte, with the Gothic 13th-century Palazzo del Capitano del Popolo once home to the holder of the city office of Reggio Emilia during the middle ages. Not too far just to the north, we reached the large square where the Teatro Municipale Valli, the 19th-century neoclassical city theatre was located. On the eastern side of the square, we then entered the complex of the Palazzo dei Musei, the city's museum hosted inside what was once the monastery of San Francesco. Inside we visited the large collection subdivided into different sections. We started with the beautiful atrium filled with 12th and 13th-century mosaics from the city's churches, passing through the natural history and ethnographic sections, with a small side room dedicated to animal and human malformations with many featuring two heads or other peculiar things. Moving on we saw the archaeological section, and then moved upstairs with paintings and objects from the middle ages to the modern times. After visiting the museum we then headed back through the city center and reached the Piazza San Prospero where we then visited the Basilica di San Prospero probably the most important church in the city, even more than the Cathedral. Originally dating to the 10th century it was rebuilt between 1536 and 1570 in the renaissance style. Its facade dates to a later refurbishment which took place during the 18th century with six lions sculpted in rose-colored marble from 1501 placed on the dais in front of the church and which were meant to be the base for columns of a portico that was never built. The octagonal bell tower also dates to the 16th century but looks only partly complete as its upper half was never finished. Once inside the basilica, we marveled at its simple yet solemn interior with the renaissance columns dividing the nave and the presbytery featuring the altar that contains the body of Saint Prospero. The space around and above it is decorated by a remarkable cycle of frescoes, dating back to the late sixteenth century, mostly by Camillo Procaccini. From the church we then continued on through the city, passing by the Galleria Parmeggiani a 1924 building in a neo-gothic style that hosts a part of the city museums dedicated to modern art. Not too far ahead we then visited the last main church, the Basilica della Ghiara. This large late renaissance church was built in response to an alleged miracle, that occurred in 1596, associated with a local votive image of the Madonna which soon became a pilgrimage destination. Its interior, lit up now that it was getting dark outside, featured beautiful marble and gilded decorations and fittings, particularly in the ceiling covered with precious frescoes from the 17th century. After the visit, it was finally time for us to head back to the car just as the sun was setting and eventually drive back to Vicenza.