OUT OF THE LIGHT AND INTO DARKNESS: BYZANTIUM AND THE MIDDLE AGES

The itinerary of emotions: temples of mysticism and culture

The fi rst stop on this mystical route is Bobbio, a town surrounded by the green valley of the Trebbia. Founded by the Irish monk Columbanus (614), during the early Middle Ages Bobbio was one of Europe’s most important monasteries. The museum inside the abbey contains Roman and early medieval relics including a beautiful ivory urn. Other sights in Bobbio are the ancient and eccentric Ponte Gobbo (“hunchback bridge”) and the Basilica of San Colombano with its mosaic fl oor and 11th-century wrought-iron screen. Following the Trebbia and then the Po towards Piacenza, you will fi nd the village of Monticelli d’Ongina, clustered around the spectacular Rocca Pallavicino. In the manor, the Museo Etnografi co illustrates the life and traditions of the river Po and features an aquarium with local species of fi sh, but the highlight of the town is the 15th-century collegiate church of San Lorenzo. Another religious symbol is the Cistercian monastery of Chiaravalle della Colomba in the valley of the Arda. It was founded in 1136 following the model of the abbey of Citeaux in Bourgogne, where the rule of poverty of Saint Bernard was practised. The itinerary ends with an archaeological pearl, Roman Veleia near Lugagnano Val d’Arda, where traces of the residential districts, a forum and a termarium (public bath) still remain. An antiquarium contains several items excavated from the site, opened in 1747.

Romanesque Modena

There is a sort of invisible leitmotif running through all the Romanesque buildings in and around Modena, be they small country churches, abbeys or cathedrals. The archetypical model of them all and the starting point of this itinerary is the cathedral of Modena, a masterpiece of originality and monumentality that inspired several other buildings in its time. On the road to Carpi, stop at the Pieve (parish church) of San Giorgio in Ganaceto, whose apse still retains its Romanesque architecture and the Acquasantiera delle Sirene (1130), a holy water stoup attributed to a follower of the Maestro of the Metope. In Carpi, the Romanesque bits of the Pieve of Santa Maria in Castello, called “La Sagra”, are just one part of the massive reconstruction started by Matilda of Canossa in the 12th century. Another church which underwent substantial changes, but was originally Romanesque (as can be seen from its left-hand side) is the Pieve of Santa Maria della Neve in Quarantoli di Mirandola. The ambo (raised platform) and two telamones (man-shaped columns) were presumably carved by the workshop of Wiligelmus. Then there is Nonantola: founded in 752 by the Lombard king’s brother-in-law the abbot Anselmo (who a few years earlier had also founded the Romanesque Pieve of San Silvestro in Fanano), it was a well-known rest-stop in the Apennines along the Via Romea, the road between Emilia and Tuscany.

A half-day tour of Bologna

It’s a pity to see Bologna in just half a day, but if you really cannot afford any longer, here are the absolute must-sees. First of all, a quick look around Piazza Maggiore and its medieval and Renaissance buildings: starting from the Basilica of San Petronio and turning clockwise you’ll see the Palazzo dei Notai, the Palazzo D’Accursio, the Palazzo del Podestà and the Palazzo dei Banchi. Each of them has its own story: for instance, the Palazzo Re Enzo facing Neptune’s fountain takes its name from its illustrious prisoner, the handsome fair-haired King Enzo, who was locked up here from 1249 until his death in 1272. He was very popular among the Bolognese ladies. If you look very hard at the Palazzo dei Banchi, you will realize that it is not a real building, but just a scenic facade shielding the alleyways behind it, which lead to the market in Via delle Pescherie. As you walk towards the two leaning towers, you’ll pass in front of the Gothic Palazzo della Mercanzia (1384), with terracottaand- marble mullioned windows and the coats of arms of the local medieval merchant guilds. Piazza Santo Stefano is one of the fi nest squares in Bologna. It slopes down to the Basilica di Santo Stefano, which is in fact a complex of seven churches, also called “Holy Jerusalem” or Jerusalem Bononiensis. Another popular church is that of San Domenico (1221), holding the tomb of Saint Dominic.

From the Etruscans to avant-garde architecture

This itinerary will lead you from an Etruscan necropolis to an example of the most innovative contemporary architecture, located within a few miles of each other. It starts from Pontecchio Marconi, on the first foothills of the Apennines, and cuts through the valley of the Reno. The main attraction in Pontecchio is Villa Griffone (open by appointment only), the home and laboratory of Guglielmo Marconi, the inventor of the radio. Further south, Marzabotto holds several treasures: the Etruscan necropolis of Misa, the Museo Etrusco "Pompeo Aria" and a very active Peace School in the park of Monte Sole. Nearby Vergato offers two unexpected sights: the 14th-century Palazzo dei Capitani and a Modernist church designed by the famous Finnish architect Alvar Aalto. Riola, a suburb of Vergato, features the Rocchetta Mattei, an Art-Nouveau and somewhat Oriental-looking castle. Another historic place is Grizzana Morandi, which takes its name from the famous painter. Some of the places figuring in Morandi's works have been recently restored, such as the Campiamo barns in Borgo Scola. For more mystical inspiration, check out the sanctuaries of Montovolo, the Madonna del Cigno in Camugnano (where you will also find the lovely church of Bargi) or the Madonna di Bocca di Rio in Castiglione dei Pepoli. During the summer, the blue lake of Suviana near Castiglione has an artificial beach for windsurfers.

The Abbey of Pomposa

The 6th-century Abbey of Pomposa, not far from Codigoro, is the mystical highlight of the Po delta. Its great bell tower seems to appear out of thin air, surrounded by pink flamingos or herons during the warm season, or fading into the fog during the winter. In the Middle Ages, this Benedictine monastery was an obligatory stop along the pilgrim's route to Rome and the sepulchre of Saint Peter. Today, it still stands as one of the finest examples of Romanesque and Byzantine art in Europe. It is a complex of several buildings: the Palazzo della Ragione, the porticoed and finely decorated church of Santa Maria Assunta, and the 48-metre (or 158 feet) tall bell tower. Among other wonders, the church holds a cycle of precious frescoes, including a grand Last Judgement, and its floor is decorated with mosaics from three different eras. Being located right in the middle of the Po delta, Pomposa is also the ideal starting point for trips into the Parco del Delta or the wildlife reserve of the Bosco della Mesola, home to the last deer of the Mesola.

An itinerary of Early Christian and Byzantine monuments

This itinerary takes us back to 410 AD, when the Visigoths raided Rome and captured the young Roman princess Galla Placidia, emperor Honorius' sister. The old king of the Visigoths, Alaric I, made her his unoffi cial spouse. After Alaric's death, Galla married his successor and brother-in-law, young and brave Ataulf. Today, the mausoleum of Galla Placidia is one of the fi nest monuments of Ravenna, as are the other seven local masterpieces of Early Christian art on UNESCO's Heritage List. The Battistero Neoniano (Neonian Baptistery, 450 AD) has an octagonal Greek marble font and incredibly beautiful mosaics in Hellenic- Roman style. Another baptistery is the Battistero degli Ariani, which takes its name from the Arian heresy, the religion of the "barbarian" Germanic peoples. Only in Ravenna can a heretic baptistery stand beside an Early Christian church, nowhere else can one feel the spirit of the epochal transition from the end of the Roman empire to the Middle Ages. Only here could a blood-thirsty Ostrogoth king like Theodoric allow the construction of a private oratory for bishop Peter II, the chapel of Sant'Andrea. But Ravenna was also a Byzantine city, as witnessed by the churches of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo, Sant'Apollinare in Classe (with a mosaic depicting the saint in a fl ower-strewn meadow) and the Oriental-style Basilica of San Vitale, with the world-famous mosaics of empress Theodora and emperor Justinianus surrounded by their court.