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Discover the art of Forlì

Forlì-Cesena

The city of Forlì, the heart of Romagna for its strategic position between Bologna and Rimini, Ravenna and Firenze, has become over the centuries a cultural, academic, wine and food leading center. Today it’s a museum center of great interest with the museum complex of San Domenico and the exhibitions that it hosts every year.

  • Piazza Saffi – is the heart of Forlì and is found at the intersection of the four main streets. At the center of the piazza stands out the statue of Aurelio Saffi and its perimeter is surrounded by some of the most prestigious buildings of the city. The piazza is among the largest squares of Italy and here took place sanguinary battles between the Guelphs and Ghibellines. In 1282 it saw the victory of the people of Forlì lead by Guido da Montefeltro over the French soldiers sent by Pope Martin IV (mentioned in the Divine Comedy as the “sanguinary heap”). For the occasion a temple altar, the so-called “Crocetta” was erected and in the seventeenth century was replaced by a column which had on top the image of the Madonna del Fuoco (Virgin of Fire),the town’s patron saint (today positioned in Piazza del Duomo) and in the last century by the statue of Aurelio Saffi (1819-1890), politician and Triumvir of the 1849 Roman Republic.
  • Abbey of San Mercuriale – is the best-known building of the city and it’s one of the symbols of the entire region of Emilia-Romagna. It has the rank of minor basilica given by Pope John XXIII.The basilica, which has ancient origins, was built on the remnants of a former Parish Church from the sixteenth century dedicated to Saint Stephen.
  • Palazzo del Governo or Palazzo Paulucci di Calboli – stands next to the Abbey of San Mercuriale and was built in the beginning of the eighteenth century. It was meant to be the Palazzo of the Government of Forlì. On the ground floor the original design has been altered with the opening of shops running the length of the building along the front and the staircase is embellished with two sculpture groups, “Theseus and the Minotaur” and “Hercules killing the Hydra”.
  • La Cattedrale di Santa Croce – is the Cathedral of Forlì and the seat of the Bishop of the Forlì-Bertinoro diocese . Inside the left chapel can be found the xylograph of Madonna del Fuoco, the patron saint of the diocese. The present neoclassical style, fruit of the long works that followed the demolition of the original Romanesque-Gothic church, was designed by the architect Giulio Zambianchi.
  • Palazzo Romagnoli Reggiani – is called after the Romagnoli family from Cesena, that moved to Forlì when Lorenzo Romagnoli became the prefect of the town during the French government in 1806 and after the Reggiani family when Girolamo Lorenzo Reggiani married Virginia, the last descendant of the Romagnoli family and took the surname Romagnoli – Reggiani. Very close to the museum complex San Domenico, the ground floor of the building features the permanent exhibition of the prestigious Verzocchi Collection, while on the first floor can be found a selection of pieces such as the oil paintings and prints by Morandi from the Righini Donation, the sculptures of Wildt tied to the figure of Raniero Paulucci de Calboli and “La grande Romagna”, paintings and plastic works representative of the wide and mixed twentieth-century heritage of Forlì.
  • Complex San Domenico – has been rebuilt where once was a Dominican monastery dating back to the thirteenth century. Inside the complex is found the refectory with sixteenth-century frescos of Girolamo Ugolini. On the north-east wall the fresco is divided up into three parts split by architectural elements with the Crucifixion at the center, on the left the apparition of saints Peter and Paul to Saint Dominic and on the right Saint Dominic that revives young Napoleon Orsini fallen off the horse. On the south-west wall is represented the refectory of Saint Dominic and the miracle of bread. This last fresco was severely damaged by the soldiers in the Napoleonic period. The complex includes five buildings: Palazzo Pasquali, Chiesa di San Giacomo Apostolo, Convento degli Agostiniani and Sala Santa Caterina. The complex is today the seat of the Art Gallery of Forlì. Furthermore it houses temporary exhibitions.
  • Rocca di Ravaldino – is a fortified stronghold of medieval origins. Rebuilt and enhanced in the fourteenth century both by the Ordelaffi and Egidio Albornoz and enlargedduring the fifteenth century. Today part of the fortress houses temporary exhibitions, while a large part houses the prisons of the city.
Guides to the territory that may be of interest to you
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The Maritime museum
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Cesenatico Harbour
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The "Conserve"
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Pascolian Itinerary
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Rimini is a city of Roman origin and not just any city at that, but one of the most important centres in the ancient Roman Empire. The official date of its foundation is the ye...
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Pantani Hall
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