Must-see attractions in Emilia-Romagna

  • Italy, Emilia Romagna, Parma, Piazza Duomo, Battistero at Dusk.

    Battistero

    Parma

    Overshadowing even the cathedral, the octagonal pink-marble baptistery on the south side of the piazza is one of the most important such structures in…

  • ITALY - JULY 24: Mosaics in the apse vault, 538-545, Basilica of San Vitale (UNESCO World Heritage List, 1996), founded 526, Ravenna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy. (Photo by DeAgostini/Getty Images)

    Basilica di San Vitale

    Ravenna

    Sometimes, after weeks of strolling around dark Italian churches, you can lose your sense of wonder. Not here! The lucid mosaics that adorn the altar of…

  • Interior of the Basilica of St Apollinare Nuovo
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    Basilica di Sant'Apollinare Nuovo

    Ravenna

    An old legend states that Pope Gregory the Great once ordered the Apollinare's mosaics to be blackened as they were distracting worshippers from prayer. A…

  • Brisighella (Ravenna, Emilia Romagna, Italy): the famous covered street known as via degli Asini or via del Borgo

    Via degli Asini

    Emilia-Romagna

    Hidden behind a colourful patchwork of warped homes, this low-slung, wood-beamed, delightfully uneven medieval walkway dates to 1290. It's unique in Italy…

  • dark blue Ceiling Mosaic of the galla placidia mausoleum. Built between 425 and 433, this small mausoleum adopts a cruciform plan, in Ravenna, Italy on November 4, 2012

    Mausoleo di Galla Placidia

    Ravenna

    In the same complex as Basilica di San Vitale, the small but equally incandescent Mausoleo di Galla Placidia was constructed for Galla Placidia, the half…

  • Museu Horacio Pagani

    Emilia-Romagna

    If peeking at the assembly lines at Ferrari and Lamborghini is like glimpsing inside a well-oiled machine, a day behind the scenes at Pagani is like…

  • Castello Estense or castello di San Michele in Ferrara - Italy

    Castello Estense

    Ferrara

    Complete with moat and drawbridge, Ferrara's towering castle was commissioned by Nicolò II d'Este in 1385. Initially it was intended to protect him and…

  • Bologna, Italy - 18 June 2022: A photo of the Lucio Dalla's house in  a beautiful day; Shutterstock ID 2185058975; purchase_order: 65050; job: poi; client: ; other:
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    Casa di Lucio Dalla

    Bologna

    The 15th-century Palazzo Casa Fontana poi Gamberini – the fascinating, pricier-than-the-Colosseum home of eccentric Italian singer-songwriter Lucio Dalla …

  • Bologna, Italy - The basilica of Santo Stefano, Holy Jerusalem, known as Seven Churches. Emilia-Romagna region.; Shutterstock ID 660489289; purchase_order: 65050; job: poi; client: ; other:
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    Basilica di Santo Stefano

    Bologna

    Bologna's most unique religious site is this atmospheric labyrinth of interlocking ecclesiastical structures, whose architecture spans centuries of…

  • Wide-angle interior view of the Basilica of San Petronio, Piazza Maggiore, Bologna, Italy showing the marble columns and ornate gilded cross above the altar.
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    Basilica di San Petronio

    Bologna

    Bologna's hulking Gothic basilica is Europe's sixth-largest church, measuring 132m by 66m by 47m. Work began on it in 1390, but it was never finished, and…

  • Modena, Italy - July 9, 2022: Vehicles and exteriors of the Ferrari Museum in Italy
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    Museo Ferrari

    Emilia-Romagna

    Each year, hundreds of thousands of petrolheads make the pilgrimage to this museum in Maranello, Ferrari's home town. They come here to obsess over the…

  • RAVENNA, ITALY - JULY 22, 2014: interior of the medieval church of Sant'Apollinare in Classe, built from 6th century.

    Basilica di Sant'Apollinare in Classe

    Ravenna

    This signature early Christian basilica, lighter than Ravenna's other churches, is situated 5km southeast of town in the former Roman port of Classe. Its…

  • La Rocchetta Mattei

    Emilia-Romagna

    You'll find one of Emilia-Romagna's most fascinating and curious sights at this captivating hilltop castle 50km southwest of Bologna. La Rocchetta Mattei…

  • Parma, the Basilica Cathedra inside, view of the dome with the fresco of the Assumption of the Virgin executed by Correggio

    Duomo

    Parma

    Another daring Romanesque beauty? Well, yes and no. Consecrated in 1106, Parma has a classic Lombard-Romanesque facade, but inside, the gilded pulpit and…

  • Duomo

    Modena

    Modena's celebrated duomo combines the austerity of the Dark Ages with throwback traditions from the Romans in a style known as Romanesque. The church…

  • Labirinto della Masone

    Parma

    The opening of the world's largest maze in 2015 fulfilled a lifetime dream of art publisher Franco Maria Ricci, who once published what many considered to…

  • Museo Archeologico Nazionale

    Ferrara

    Housed within what is arguably Ferrara's most beautifully preserved palace – the 1505 Palazzo Costabili – the city's national archaeological museum is…

  • Rocca di Brisighella

    Emilia-Romagna

    Standing sentinel high above town on a gypsum hilltop, this medieval fortress, along with the Torre dell'Orologio and Santuario del Monticino on…

  • Museo della Città

    Rimini

    This rambling museum is best known for its Roman section. Spread over several rooms, with excellent bilingual (Italian/English) signage, are finds from…

  • Palazzo Schifanoia

    Ferrara

    Dating to 1385, the Este's 14th-century pleasure palace suffered significant earthquake damage in May 2012 and the museum will be shuttered until 2020 for…

  • Museo Delta Antico

    Emilia-Romagna

    Inaugurated in 2017, the main event of this fascinating and beautifully laid-out museum, housed in the 18th-century neoclassical Comacchio Hospital, is…

  • Ponte di Tiberio

    Rimini

    The majestic five-arched Tiberius' Bridge dates from AD 21. In Roman times it marked the start of the Via Emilia – the important arterial road between the…

  • Galleria Nazionale

    Parma

    The Galleria Nazionale displays Parma’s main art collection in dark and ambiently affective environs. Alongside works by local artists Correggio and…

  • Teatro Verdi

    Emilia-Romagna

    This stately theatre on Busseto's aptly named Piazza Verdi was built in 1868, although Verdi himself initially pooh-poohed the idea. It opened with a…

  • San Colombano – Collezione Tagliavini

    Bologna

    An absolutely stunningly restored church with original frescoes and a medieval crypt rediscovered in 2005, the San Colombano hosts a wonderful collection…

  • Tempio Malatestiano

    Rimini

    Built originally in 13th-century Gothic style and dedicated to St Francis, Rimini's cathedral was radically transformed in the mid-1400s into a…

  • Palazzo dei Diamanti

    Ferrara

    Named after the spiky diamond-shaped ashlar stones on its facade, the late-15th-century 'diamond palace' was built for Sigismondo d'Este. It houses…

  • BOLOGNA, ITALY - CIRCA DECEMBER, 2017: Parmiggiano Reggiano store inside Fico Eataly World, located in Bologna, is the largest agrofood park in the world. Internal view.; Shutterstock ID 768732697; your: Bridget Brown; gl: 65050; netsuite: Online Editorial; full: POI Image Update

    FICO Eataly World

    Bologna

    FICO, the world's largest agri-food park, opened in 2017 to equal parts cheering and sneering in a formerly dilapidated wholesale farmers' market 7km…

  • Bologna, Italy - Two Towers (Due Torri), Asinelli and Garisenda, symbols of medieval Bologna towers.
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    Torre degli Asinelli

    Bologna

    Bologna's two leaning towers are the city's main symbol. The taller of the two, the 97.2m-high Torre degli Asinelli (the tallest leaning medieval tower in…

  • Quadrilatero

    Bologna

    To the east of Piazza Maggiore, the grid of streets around Via Clavature (Street of Locksmiths) sits on what was once Roman Bologna. Known as the…

  • Palazzo Poggi

    Bologna

    Three university museums are housed inside this 14th-century palace. At Museo di Palazzo Poggi, you can peruse terracotta uteri in the Obstetrics…

  • Santuario di Santa Maria della Vita

    Bologna

    In the heart of the Quadrilatero, this 17th-century shrine is one of Bologna's most beautiful and important, not only for its 13th-century foundation by…

  • Palazzo Ducale

    Modena

    Construction began in 1634 on this massive palace, a baroque masterpiece that absolutely dominates the northeast end of Modena's historic centre. Today,…

  • Mudetec

    Emilia-Romagna

    Located in the village of Sant’Agata Bolognese (20km east of Modena and 35km northwest of Bologna), the museum formerly known as the Lamborghini Museum…

  • Castello di Torrechiara

    Parma

    Magnifico Pier Maria Rossi's impressive Torrechiara Castle is one of the most important examples of Italian castle architecture and is considered one of…

  • Museo della Storia di Bologna

    Bologna

    Walk in a historical neophyte and walk out an A-grade honours student in Bologna’s golden past. This magnificent interactive museum, opened in 2012 and…

  • Museo del Palazzo

    Emilia-Romagna

    This fascinating noble apartment inside Palazzo dei Pio is a treasure trove of renowned art and well-preserved Renaissance frescoes (including detached…

  • Museo Enzo Ferrari

    Modena

    While Maranello’s Museo Ferrari focuses on the supersonic cars, this museum near Modena's train station, inaugurated in 2012, celebrates Signor Enzo…

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