The founder of the Ravenna community of the Capuchin Poor Clares was Sister Chiara Pascoli, who, with her co-founders, pronounced her solemn vows on November 21, 1683. The Poor Clares are members of an enclosed monastic order of nuns dedicated to contemplative prayer. It was the second Franciscan Order to be established, and is named after Saint Clare of Assisi. Each monastery is an autonomous community governed by an abbess elected for a period of time, and belongs to the family of Franciscan orders. The monastery was originally near Santa Maria in Porto, but when the nuns returned to Ravenna after the Napoleonic suppression of all religious orders, in April 1823, Sister Teresa Miani inaugurated a new convent in its current, spacious location in Via Pietro Alighieri. The Monastery and the adjoining church of St Apollinaris in Veclo, still one of the smallest active churches in town, suffered heavy bombing during World War II, when two nuns died. The building houses a painting by G.B. Barbiani dating back to 1605 and representing the Madonna of Loreto, St Francis and St Apollinaris. Corrado Ricci’s Guide to Ravenna narrates that in 1923 the convent also preserved a trunk with the cloths used to hold St Francis’s remains when his tomb was rediscovered in Assisi in 1818. The current Abbess of the monastery, Sister Maria Pia, entered the convent in 1956 as its nineteenth nun. There are four Capuchin Poor Clares in Ravenna today: along with Sister Maria Pia are Sister Agnes, Sister Maria Grazia and Sister Felice.

Music, mainly jazz and of the singer-songwriter kind, but always of a high standard, as well as art films. And the aroma of cappelletti, together with a glass of wine. Today, the Teatro Socjale in Piangipane offers this and so much more. It is a valuable location for cultural events and a meeting place…thus returning to its origins. On 7 September 1911, the Cooperativa Agricola Braccianti bought land on which to build a theatre. All works stopped when the war broke out, and then began again in 1920. Guided by master masons, labourers worked in their spare time and the building was inaugurated in 1921. According to the testimony of the interior designer, the “i” in Sociale was replaced with the “j” to improve the harmony of the writing. The theatre has its own retro-style elegance, inspired by Art Nouveau: a large auditorium, a wooden stage, and a wraparound gallery. There were no fixed chairs, for every performance each person brought their own from home. This was the case for large concerts, operas, operettas, dances, and masquerade balls. It also later served as a cinema. Then, at the end of the seventies, it went into decline. The desire for culture and entertainment had not disappeared however, and in 1990 the Circolo Arci Teatro Socjale was born – organised by a group of young people with the aim of livening up Friday nights. During the first year they organised jazz and blues concerts with beer, wine, and home-made cappelletti. The following year, this new course of events was enhanced by a Tuesday evening film. Only one delicate but not impossible phase remained: the complete restoration of the building. Work was under way from 2004 to the end of 2006, with events resuming in 2007. The best Italian jazz musicians, and national and international artists, have appeared on this stage. Ravenna Festival has not failed to grasp the potential of this extremely versatile space, choosing it as a venue for some events.

The eye is lost in the 16 hectares of brackish lagoons, where eels are caught and shellfish is raised. The small town is placed exactly at sea level in a basin at the heart of the Po Delta. Possibly founded by Etruscans (the archaeological site of Spina is only 4 kilometres away), Comacchio was ruled in turn by the Exarchate of Ravenna, the Duchy of Ferrara, and the States of the Church. Ariosto described it as “la città ch’in mezzo alle piscose paludi, del Po teme ambe le foci, dove abitan le genti disiose che ‘l mar si turbi e sieno i venti atroci” (“the city which fishy marshes round enclose, and Po’s two currents threat with double breach; whose townsmen loath the lazy calm’s repose,  and pray that stormy waves may lash the beach”). Of the rule of the House of Este only the plan of the historical centre remains, because in 1509 the Venetians mangled the town and its saltworks. So the buildings one can admire today, however fascinating, were built only later. The “small Venice” still enchants the visitor though, and despite the drainage of most surrounding areas and the filling of some city canals, the thirteenths islands on which Comacchio thrived can be still recognised. The islands are joined by a series of historical bridges, first of all the one laying across three canals, and featuring five arches and as many stairs: Trepponti. Equipped with two defensive towers, it was created by Luca Danesi, an engineer from Ravenna, in 1634. The Church of the Madonna del Carmine, the oldest in town, dates to the same period. Another important piece of local history is the Manifattura dei Marinati, today both a part-time factory for some months of the year and a museum. Among the other places of interest, we must remember Palazzo Bellini, a lavish building by the local standards, placed by the Ponte degli Sbirri: built in the second half of the 19th century, nowadays it hosts the Library and the local Historical Archives. The same building complex includes the museum displaying the Roman ship which was found in 1981 in the marshes. Not far from the Ponte degli Sbirri, the Antica Pescheria: created in the 17th century and restored in 1887, still operates as a fish market. This portrait of Comacchio could not be complete without the “Casone Foce”: once an important fishing station, today it hosts the restaurant Bettolino di Foce, not far from the boarding place for the cruise in the lagoon.

The majestic country residence, built for the Count Rasponi in the late 18th century by the right bank of the Montone river, still fascinates the visitor for both its architectural grandeur and the delightful fresco decorations of the interiors. Built on the ruins of a medieval castle, only 2 kilometres away from the small town of Russi, Palazzo San Giacomo is known as “e’ muraion” in the local dialect. After all, its almost 85-metre long, three-store high façade, including two five-store high side towers, resembles a “great wall”. The architecture mirrors the palace of the House of Farnese in Colorno and the palace of the Estes in Modena, and indeed the building was created as a summer residence for the count Guido Carlo Rasponi, the younger brother of the Cardinal Cesare, who might have designed it. The works were attended to by Filippo, the son, who also took care of the decorations and designed the straight route connecting the palace to the road, to serve as a “triumphal entrance”. The interiors display the largest pictorial cycle in Romagna created between 17th and 18th century, featuring the works of artists such as Philip Jakob Worndle, Ercole Sangiorgio, Giuliano Roncalli, Cristof Worndle, and Andreas Kindermann. In the 19th century the palace turned into a refuge for revolutionaries and their clandestine meetings. In 1947 the building was given to the Seminary of Faenza; then in 1977 it was bought by the Comune of Russi. The appeal of the “noble resort” is enriched by the surrounding area, which has been serving as a stage for plays and concerts for the last decades. The first chance came, at the beginning of the 90s, with the workshops of the Russi-based company “Le Belle Bandiere”. The important maintenance and restoration works were followed by the arrival of Ravenna Festival: the place has become a most perfect venue for special events, starting in 2006 with the premiere of “Ur-Hamlet” created by the great Eugenio Barba.

Grandiose and solemn, Sant’Apollinare in Classe represents the greatest example of Paleochristian basilica. In 549 it was consecrated to Saint Apollinare by Massimiano of Pola, the first archbishop of the city and an eminent ambassador of Emperor Giustiniano. According to the legend, the proto-bishop Apollinare, martyrised at the Port of Classe on July 23rd, 74 AD, was buried here. Originally, the façade included a four-sided portico, whose remains were discovered in 1870. On the right side of the building, the 9th-century mighty round bell tower is the most beautiful of its kind in the area: over 37-metre high, it is scattered with two and three-light mullioned windows. Inside the basilica, the three naves are separated by 24 Greek marble columns, while the presbytery and the apsidal conch are covered in splendid mosaics, the last work of Byzantine hands in Ravenna. Here the classical naturalism was replaced by the more conventional Oriental symbolism. Then the interior was far richer, since the ceiling was coffered, the walls covered in marble and the floor in mosaics. But the marble was taken to Rimini in 1450, as per agreement between Sigismondo Malatesta and the monks, where it would be used for the enlargement of the church of San Francesco. The current aspect of the basilica owes to the early 20th century works attended to by Corrado Ricci. In October 1960, Pope Giovanni XXIII elevated it to the rank of minor basilica, in order to strengthen its tie with the Church. Since 1996 it is listed among the World Heritage sites. A place of worship for centuries, the basilica turned into a stage for the first time in 1965 with the celebrations for the 7th centenary of Dante Alighieri’s birth. On May 27th the Haydn Orchestra of Bolzano and Trento, conducted by Antonio de Bavier with the choirs Radio Prague and the Children of Prague, performs Bach’s Great Mass in B minor. On September 12th Giuseppe Verdi’s Requiem Mass was performed by the Orchestra and Choir of the Comunale of Florence, Robert Zeller was on the podium. Ravenna Festival has embraced this place, a symbol of the city, since July 26th, 1990, when the Maggio Musicale of Florence, under the baton of Carlo Maria Giulini, played Ludwig van Beethoven’s masterpiece, the Symphony no. 9 in D minor.

The white colossus, made from blocks of Istrian stone, stands out at the centre of a green area. This is the Mausoleum of Theodoric, one of the most important monuments in Ravenna. The park which surrounds it, designed by architect Boris Podrecca, represents a link between the historical route of the city walls and the green belt around the city, while it mirrors typical elements of the local landscape like the fields and the water. Hence the pools near the Northern entrance, where lotus flowers bloom in Summer. From the boardwalk and the side paths the visitors can spot the numerous species of animals which inhabit these pools: turtles, fishes, geese, ducks, gulls. Plus enclosed gardens, wooded areas, meadows equipped with playgrounds, and walking and jogging routes. And the Mausoleum, the most famous funeral building of the Ostrogoths: it was built at the King’s bidding around 520, and it was originally placed by the sea, as the finding of a Roman ship not far from the tomb proved. The structure is nothing short of mighty: the monolithic dome – the diameter is almost 11 metres – weighs about 230 tons. The legend claims that the long fissure running from the centre to the circumference was caused by the lightning bolt which incinerated Theodoric. Actually, the fissure was probably caused by a minor collapse of the foundations, or by the aftershock of the placement of the dome. The whole area, then, served as a graveyard: the Campo Coriandro. With the arrival of the Byzantine, the Mausoleum was turned into an oratory. Then a lighthouse rose by its side, and the monastery of Santa Maria della Rotonda and a church were built. Today the Mausoleum is one of the eight monuments in Ravenna recognised by Unesco as World Heritage sites.

Without question, one of Ravenna’s finest buildings from the reign of King Theodoric was the Palatine Church, of Aryan cult, built at the king’s bidding in 505 AD next to his palace and dedicated to “Christ the Redeemer”. In 540 AD, after the city had fallen into the hands of the Byzantines, Archbishop Agnellus dedicated it to St. Martin of Tours – known as “the Hammer of Heretics” because he fought against the Arians. Later, between the ninth and tenth centuries, it was dedicated to St Apollinaris, with the addition of “Nuovo” (new) in order to differentiate it from the older Sant’Apollinare in Veclo, which stood in the present Via Pietro Alighieri. Next to the church stands a beautiful cylindrical bell tower, one of the many which were built in Ravenna, like the one at San Vitale. The scholar Wanda Frattini Gaddoni wrote that “they are considered the oldest cylindrical bell towers in the West”. The beautiful mosaics that adorn the walls of the central nave date back to two periods: the upper row is from to the time of Theodoric and was influenced by Greek and Roman tastes. During the sixth century, at the time of Emperor Justinian, the mosaics along the lower row were extensively “cleansed” when the church was consecrated to Catholicism: Theodoric images were replaced by scenes of saints and holy martyrs. The façade and the portico are sixteenth-century renovations from when the building passed into the hands of the Franciscan Friars. Between 1600 and 1700, the basilica and friary hosted oratorios and “religious plays”. Then nothing, until 1921 when Sant’Apollinare Nuovo hosted two musical events dedicated to Dante Alighieri, on the 600th anniversary of the poet’s death. On 13 and 14 September, the vocal-symphonic poem “Dantis Poetae Transitus” was staged. This was composed and directed by Licino Refice, one of the greatest reformers of sacred music within the movement sparked by Pope Pius X. Three days later, some of Dante’s canticles were performed, accompanied by Gregorian music and music by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, adapted by Giovanni Tebaldini who also conducted the music and choir. In 1996, the church was listed by UNESCO as one of Italy’s World Heritage Sites.

Built and inaugurated by CONI (the Italian National Olympic Committee) in the Fifties, it was dedicated to Angelo Costa who, together with Orfeo Montanari, founded the volleyball club of the Gruppo Sportivo Robur Ravenna in 1945. The team played their first two games against soldiers from the Polish army who were stationed in Ravenna. Costa was also among those who, in 1946, founded the Italian Volleyball Federation. In 1964, with the promotion of Robur Ravenna to the first division, the PalaCosta began to host Serie A games. In the 1965-66 season, there were even two leading teams from Ravenna in the first division. The facility was enlarged between 1979 and 1981, with the widening of the arena. During those years, and for the following couple of decades, the sports arena also hosted concerts and musical events, such as a couple of the Ravenna Blues Festivals (which began in 1986). The building was closed in 1998 due to building regulation concerns. After purchasing the property from CONI, the municipality of Ravenna started redevelopment works, which were completed in 2009. At the building’s inauguration, Mayor Fabrizio Matteucci said: “The PalaCosta is an historic place despite having been built in the mid-twentieth century – we can say that this is the home of sport in Ravenna. It was a brave and right decision to save this space. In a period of disorientation, such as the one in which we now live, it is good to rediscover a symbolic place”. On 16 April 2016, the PalaCosta’s indoor arena was dedicated to Vigor “Bovo” Bovolenta, the volleyball champion who died prematurely on 24 March 2012.

Corrado Ricci, at the end of the nineteenth century, stated that the Corradini Palace was “grandiose but with excessive proportions in the door”: in fact, the door that overlooks Via Mariani reaches the second floor. It is surmounted by a balcony supported by two large columns and three ledges. Actually, it is disproportionate compared to the rest of the façade, but it is a beautiful sample of Baroque architecture. The building, in fact, dates back to the seventeenth-century. A few masks are located inside the architrave, above the ledges of the upper floor. One of the masks strangely resembles Garibaldi. At the beginning of the eighteenth century the palace was bought by the Ginanni Corradini family (the one that gave birth to the famous Ravenna futurists, Ginna and Corra) and then sold in 1886.  The interior features huge halls with eighteenth-century decorations. In the second half of the twentieth century it became a public building, used as a student residential hall, then as offices for provincial administration and, on the ground floor, location of the Resistence Historic Institute for some time. It then became the location for the Literature and Cultural Heritage Courses and Ravenna Campus for the University of Bologna. As part of an overall consolidation project and enhancement of university courses, a new building was built in the area behind the original one, and since known as the Palazzo dei Congressi (today also “del Cinema”), inaugurated in 2000. Owned by the Province and the Municipality of Ravenna, it is managed by the Flaminia Foundation, supporting institute of the University of Ravenna’s Campus. It has a conference room with 320 armchairs in a tiered amphitheatre layout; it is also used for film projections; additional complementary and service areas are located on two floors. It is also the location for film festivals, exhibitions, and literary meetings.

Ever since the eighteenth century Romagna has been a land of great theatrical traditions: the Comunitativo of Ravenna opened in 1723, the one in Lugo in 1761, and the Comunale of Forli in 1776, two years before the Scala of Milan. Designed by architect Cosimo Morelli from Imola, the Comunale of Forlì is beautiful though small, well-proportioned to the population of the city. In the early nineteenth century it was partially expanded, although it remained limited in size. In any case, in addition to prose, the theatre also hosted melodramatic productions, and often welcomed some of the most famous artists of the Italian scenario. With the outbreak of World War II a bomb hit the town’s tower which fell on the theatre, in today’s Piazzetta della Misura, completely destroying it. Thus the most important shows were forced to be held at the Astra movie theatre, in corso Diaz, which then became “Teatro Astra”. In the late nineties of the twentieth century, it began to “falter”, since it no longer satisfied the demands of the audience nor of the performances. The Town’s administration decided to intervene, without depriving the city of its shows: the performance seasons were transferred to the “Testori”, a private theatre that, albeit its smaller size, was able to guarantee the continuity of cultural performances. After the restoration works that radically restructured it (of the previous building only three load-bearing walls remained), in 2000 the theatre was named after Diego Fabbri from Forlì, one of the greatest playwrights of the twentieth century and great screenwriter for RAI television (a few examples: part of the series dedicated to Commissioner Maigret, but also “The Brothers Karamazov”). The inauguration was held on 27 November of that year with Riccardo Muti conducting the Philharmonic Orchestra of La Scala. Today the theatre is managed by the Town, it has 710 seats (550 in the parterre and 160 in the balcony), a foyer with one hundred seats and two rehearsal rooms. It is not, naturally, in the “Italian style”.