Art
An Artful Romagna
The termin Romagna (Rumâgna in Romagnolo dialect) derives from the late- Latin word "Romània" and dates back to the sixth century AD, when Italy was divided into Longobardica and Romana, i.e. when the country was ruled by the Longobards and the Eastern Roman Empire. Therefore, "Romània" took the general meaning of "Roman world" (as opposed to the barbarian-Lombard one).
This land rich in art and culture, crossroads of peoples, has been a land of conquest for thousands of years: from Umbrians, the Celts to the Roman hegemony and Byzantine power. The latter made Ravenna the capital. Ravenna is by far the richest city of Romagna in terms of monuments. Today, it preserves eight World Heritage Sites, all dating back to late antiquity and Byzantine era.
Romagna is a medieval land, full of fortresses: fortifications still appear on every summit. One of the most important strongholds is that of Bertinoro, which houses today a major University Centre. This medieval village is particularly famous for its terrace, also called "the terrace of Romagna", which offers a panoramic view beyond the plain up to the Adriatic coast.
The so-called "Delizie Estensi", dating back to the Renaissance period and part of the World Heritage, are also famous since "… the residences of the Dukes of Este in the Po Delta area well represent the reflection of the Renaissance culture on the natural landscape…". Here, the heritage left by Seigniories such as the Malatesta, the Este, the Sforza, the Borgia Families is obviously illustrated.
This land harbored Dante Alighieri, the supreme poet of Sweet New Style, who was the first one to talk about Romagna. His first quotation appears in the V Canto of Inferno, where Francesca da Rimini describes the territory of Romagna with a few lines:
| « Siede la terra, dove nata fui, su la marina dove 'l Po discende per aver pace co' seguaci sui… » |
« The country of my birth lies on that coast; Where the river Po with its tributaries; Flows downhill to its place of final rest… » |
| (Inferno, Canto V, 97-99) |
Illustrious people were born in Romagna, such as the poet Olindo Guerrini, stage name Stecchetti, Aldo Spallicci, Giovanni Pascoli, the poet and journalist Antonio Beltramelli, great leaders such as Giovanni dalle Bande Nere, during the Renaissance period, the painter Melozzo da Forlì of the Forlì school; historical figures such as Tito Maccio Plauto (Sarsina 254 BC - Rome 184 BC), a famous Latin comedy writer whose theatrical works are still played. Giovan Battista Morgagni (Forlì 1682 - Padua 1771), an Italian anatomist, teacher at the University of Padua, and still considered the father of modern pathological anatomy. Aurelio Saffi (Forlì 1819-1890), patriot of Mazzini, was a triumvir of the Roman Republic in 1848, went to England as an exile and from 1861 became a deputy of the Kingdom of Italy. Pellegrino Artusi (Forlimpopoli, FC, 1820 - Florence 1911) published "La scienza in cucina e L'arte di mangiar bene" (The Science of Cooking and the Art of Eating Well) in 1891, a renowned cookbook that made famous the traditional dishes of the Romagna cuisine. Gregorio Ricci-Curbastro (Lugo di Romagna 1853 - Bologna 1925), a mathematician whose treaty on The Absolute Differential Calculus was indispensable for the development of Albert Einstein's general relativity theory.
| «Romagna solatia, dolce paese, cui regnarono Guidi e Malatesta; cui tenne pure il Passator cortese, re della strada, re della foresta. » |
«Sunny Romagna, sweet country, which was ruled by Guidi and Malatesta; which was also taken by the Passator cortese, king of the road, king of the forest.» |
| (Myricae - Romagna - Giovanni Pascoli) |
The Caveja is, above the others, the symbol of Romagna: according to the peasant tradition, it represents a steel lance welded on a peak (image) decorated with "musical rings" and symbolic images. Among the most famous symbols, inserted into decorative elements, we find the the cock, the half-moon, the Sun, the eagle and some Christian symbols such as the cross and the dove. The Caveja was used to stop the yokes, towed by oxen, to prevent the shaft from sliding in case of sudden slowing down. The caveja is one of the numerous decorative elements used in rust-printed fabrics, typical of the local tradition.
