Visit FOTOGRAFIA EUROPEA a project by Comune di Reggio Emilia
“In 2006, the Municipality of Reggio Emilia launched the first Fotografia Europea international festival. Photography took centre stage as a privileged tool for reflecting upon the complexity of contemporary living. Every year, photographers have been invited to tackle different topics: the contemporary urban condition, the body, time, the viewing eye, the change, the citizenship…” (cit. Fotografia Europea)
Taste the original “PARMIGIANO REGGIANO” cheese
During our course you could taste, love and buy this special local food. “Parmigiano-Reggiano is produced exclusively in the provinces of Parma, Reggio Emilia, Modena and parts of the provinces of Mantua and Bologna. Also known as Parmesan cheese, is an hard granular cheese with a long and natural maturation. It’s a highly concentrated cheese and contains only 30% water and 70% nutrients. Extraordinary and totally natural.” (cit. see link)
Visit Maramotti Collection (Max Mara)
“Achille Maramotti first conceived of creating a public collection of contemporary art some thirty years ago, and planned to make it an exemplary institution, open to connoisseurs and other interested individuals, in the service of the aesthetic and intellectual appreciation of art. He intended this collection to mirror the evolution of the most advanced artistic thinking of his time…” (cit. see link)
Visit Centro Internazionale Loris Malaguzzi
Reggio Children – International Center for the Defense and Promotion of the Rights and Potentials of All Children
The company aims and purposes are inspired by the contents and values of the educational experience of the Municipal Infant-toddler Centers and Preschools of Reggio Emilia, and its mission is to carry out experimental research, to promote and disseminate high quality education worldwide.” (cit. see link). From may 2018 to may 2019 Reggio Children hosts an exhibition about “Visual metaphors in children learning processes“.
Visit “Tricolore’s Room” in City Hall and Tricolore’s Museum
Italian tri-colour flag was first adopted in Reggio Emilia
“The Italian national flag was first adopted in Reggio Emilia on January 7, 1797. On that day, representatives of the cities of Reggio Emilia, Modena, Bologna and Ferrara proclaimed the red, white and green Tricolore to be the banner of the Cispadane Republic.” (cit. see link)
Reach Milan, Bologna and Florence in one hour or less!
From our beautiful Mediopadana railway station (designed by Santiago Calatrava), you can easly take a daily visit to some of the major italian cities: Bologna (25 minutes), Milan (45 minutes) and Florence (75 minutes).
Find your trains with Trenitalia or Italotreno.
See Bridges and high-speed mediopadana railway station by Santiago Calatrava
Santiago Calatrava’s bridges are the new gateways of our town; they opened in 2007. Mediopadana railway station, with a new and futuristic design, opened in 2013. It’s the high speed train station and it allows you to reach all the major italiana cities in a few hours.
Admire Guercino “The Crucifixion“ (1624-25) Basilica della Ghiara
“Made by Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, also known as Guercino (1591-1666), it depicts the dying Christ Crucified comforted by the Angel with, at the foot of the cross, Our Lady of Sorrows and the Saints Mary Magdalene, Prospero and St. John the Evangelist.” (cit. see link)
Visit our Museums and galleries (Musei Civici)
The Reggio Emilia City Museums network comprises several museums, art galleries, historical sites and exhibition centres.
An interview to our tourist guide Elena Giampietri:
Dear Elena, it’s long time you are our tour guide for the foreign teachers who attend our Erasmus + courses at Progetto Crescere in Reggio Emilia. Which are the Reggio Emilia’s places and monuments included in your tour?
We always pass through the ancient roman road “Via Aemilia” to get from the hotel to Reggio Emilia’s old town centre. Our tour starts from Prampolini square: that was named after Camillo Prampolini, a local socialist who lived between the XIX th and XX th centuries.
The place is still the centre of the community life with the Cathedral, the Baptistery of Saint John, the Bishop’s Palace and the Municipal Hall, with its Museum and the “Sala del Tricolore”, where on January 7th 1797 the Italian flag (“Tricolore”) came into being. That day the representatives from the four cities of Reggio Emilia, Modena, Bologna and Ferrara met at Congress proposed by Giuseppe Compagnoni and they officially adopted the red, green and white Tricolor as the national banner of the Cispadane Republic, the new state created under the protection of the French army.
Opposite the Muncipality there is “Palazzo del Monte”, the first municipal hall, completed in 1276. At that time it incorporated the workshops of tailors, hatters, cloth-makers, locksmiths and moneychangers as well as housing the salt deposit. From Piazza Prampolini, entering “Via del Broletto”, we always come to “Piazza San Prospero”, the site of a busy market and a very typical Italian place with the “Basilica di San Prospero”, an ancient church dedicated to Bishop Prospero, the Holy Protector of the city.
Our tour continues across via Farini, until the church and the palace of Saint George, once a Jesuit College and now the municipal library: that was named after Antonio Panizzi, a leading figure in Italian Risorgimento.
What do you think the followers of our courses love in particular of our city?
I believe they love history and art, tasting some slices of our typical Parmesan cheese and, especially the ladies, they are fascinated by the Italian fashion stores in Via Emilia. They appreciate that Reggio Emilia is a city on a human scale.
And you, Elena, what do you like of this work experience?
I love meeting foreign people: they are curious about our lifestyle, Italian politics, culture and food… Sometimes they give me some presents from their countries, but the biggest gift is to meet! I have met teachers from Spain, Poland, Turkey, Sweden, Finland, Holland and they often ask me about the school in Italy: in fact I am both a tour guide as an Italian teacher. In my opinion these occasions mean finding the world beauty in Reggio Emilia.