Handicraft
The typical handicrafts found in and around Reggio, called Ars Canusina, are reproductions of the geometrical Romanesque patterns found in the monuments dating back to the glory days of countess Matilda of Canossa (1046-1115).
These handicrafts can be of different materials: stone, wood, leather, metal, pottery, or linen. Today Ars Canusina is renowned and appreciated; the best craftsmen’s and craftswomen’s work is certified by a special seal of quality. The abundance of handicraft shops in town is partly due to the presence of several craft unions, that group together the small shops and businesses located in the alleyways of the old town centre and around the main squares.
CURIOSOTY
PIAZZA FONTANESI
Today Piazza Fontanesi is a vast treelined square with a number of antique shops. In the past, however, it was the proto-industrial area of Reggio: silk mills and leather tanneries were concentrated here, around the canal called the Guazzatoio. The restoration work completed during the 1980s has made it possible to establish the positions and workings of the buildings that once filled this area.
