Faenza is an Italian town of 58 915 inhabitants in the province
of Ravenna in Emilia-Romagna. The city is historically known for the
production of artistic ceramics, in particular majolica, for which
it is in fact named and recognized internationally with the term
"Faience".
Located on the Via Emilia between Imola and Forlì,
just west of the center of Romagna, it is located at the foot of the
first hills of the Faenza Apennines and is the bishopric of the
diocese of Faenza-Modigliana.
Piazza del Popolo and Piazza della Libertà
These adjacent squares
form the theatrical heart of Faenza, creating a long, open space lined
with elegant arcaded porticoes in warm terracotta and stone tones. They
perfectly blend civic and religious power: the civic side in Piazza del
Popolo and the religious in the connected Piazza della Libertà.
Piazza del Popolo features the facing Palazzo del Podestà (completed
1175, with Romanesque windows and Ghibelline merlons) and Palazzo
Manfredi (14th–15th century, now the Town Hall, with a graceful loggia
added under the Manfredi dynasty). The arcades and balconies reflect the
city’s medieval importance as a power center.
Piazza della Libertà is
dominated by the Cathedral steps, the Clock Tower (Torre dell’Orologio),
and the grand Baroque Fontana Monumentale (1621, designed with an
aqueduct-fed water system and ornate bronzes).
The squares host a
lively market (Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays), cafés, and ceramic
shops. They feel both grand and intimate—perfect for people-watching.
The Clock Tower, originally 17th-century, was destroyed by German troops
in 1944 and faithfully rebuilt in 1953.
Duomo di Faenza
(Cathedral of San Pietro Apostolo)
This Renaissance masterpiece
anchors Piazza della Libertà. Construction began in 1474 under Bishop
Federico Manfredi to designs by Giuliano da Maiano (architect of
Florence’s Palazzo Vecchio influences). It features a Latin-cross plan
with three naves divided by alternating columns and pillars, echoing
Brunelleschi’s Florentine style.
The brick façade remains unfinished
(a common fate for many Italian cathedrals), giving it a raw, imposing
presence with a wide staircase leading up to the entrance. Inside, the
heavy yet harmonious interior holds treasures like:
Innocenzo da
Imola’s Sacra Conversazione altarpiece (1526).
Biagio d’Antonio’s
Christ Suffering Between Two Angels (c. 1480).
Chapels with
Renaissance reliefs depicting miracles of local saints (St. Terenzio,
St. Savino, and St. Emiliano—whose 6th-century relics are venerated
here).
It also houses the body of St. Peter Damian. A
coin-operated lighting system (€2) illuminates the best artworks. The
cathedral blends civic pride and spiritual depth, exemplifying Romagna’s
Renaissance architecture.
Fontana Monumentale and Clock Tower
In Piazza della Libertà, the 17th-century Baroque Fontana Monumentale
(by architect Paganelli) is a grand, multi-tiered fountain symbolizing
civic progress after a new aqueduct was built. Nearby, the rebuilt Clock
Tower offers a vertical counterpoint to the horizontal square, with its
bells and clock face visible from afar. Together with the Cathedral,
they create one of Romagna’s most photogenic ensembles.
Museo
Internazionale delle Ceramiche (MIC) – International Museum of Ceramics
Faenza’s flagship attraction and the world’s largest dedicated ceramics
museum, founded in 1908 by Gaetano Ballardini. It spans over 10,000
square meters with ~60,000 pieces (6,000 on display) from 4000 B.C. to
today.
Highlights include:
Local Faenza maiolica (Renaissance
“faience” tableware with vivid storytelling scenes from myths, religion,
and courtly life).
Global collections: ancient Chinese porcelain,
Pre-Columbian, Middle Eastern, and Far Eastern wares.
Modern and
contemporary masterpieces by Picasso, Matisse, Chagall, Léger, Dalí,
Burri, Fontana, and others (many donated post-WWII after bombing
damage).
Special sections like the hidden 19th-century Zucchini
Nativity (over 60 terracotta figures in a theatrical setting) and the
Premio Faenza contemporary ceramic competition winners.
It
doubles as a research center with a 70,000-volume library, active
restoration lab, and educational workshops (inspired by Bruno Munari).
UNESCO has recognized it as a “Monument testifying to a culture of
peace.” Plan at least 2 hours; it’s a deep dive into ceramic history and
artistry.
Palazzo Milzetti – National Museum of the Neoclassical
Age in Romagna
This 18th–early 19th-century palace (rebuilt after an
earthquake for Count Nicola Milzetti) is Romagna’s finest Neoclassical
example and now a state museum. Architects Giuseppe Pistocchi and
Giovanni Antonio Antolini designed it, with lavish frescoes and stuccos
by Felice Giani drawing from Pompeii/Herculaneum, Greek myths, and
Masonic symbolism.
Rooms feature themes like the Achilles Ballroom,
Temple of Apollo reception hall, Penelope’s romantic bedchamber, and a
dramatic black bath chamber. Sparse original furnishings remain, but the
opulent ceilings, chandeliers, and wall decorations transport you to
aristocratic Napoleonic-era life. It’s a compact yet immersive
experience of Enlightenment elegance.
Other Notable Landmarks
Teatro Masini (1780s, by Pistocchi): Elegant horseshoe-shaped theater
with four tiers of boxes, frescoes by Giani, and statues of Olympian
gods—still used for performances.
Pinacoteca Comunale (Municipal Art
Gallery): In a former Jesuit convent, with Renaissance paintings
(Palmezzano, Bertucci), possible Donatello-attributed wooden St. Jerome,
and modern works by de Chirico and Morandi.
Ceramic workshops and
public art: Scattered throughout the center—watch live demonstrations
and buy authentic faience. Outdoor contemporary ceramic sculptures add
modern flair.
The cities of Lamone and Santerno lead the lïoncel
from the white nest, which changes part from la state to winter.
(Dante Alighieri, Inferno, Canto XXVII)
The origins of the city are uncertain. Some
historical chroniclers, such as Agostino Tolosano or Giulio Cesare
Tonduzzi, trace its foundation back to mythology: the Attic settlers
who, going up the Adriatic, would have founded Ravenna also went
inland, founding the settlement of Foentia. More recent studies show
that, especially in the foothills of the Faenza area, there are
traces of both Neolithic and Bronze Age settlements.
There is
no certainty as to which peoples inhabited the territory before the
Roman conquest in the 2nd century BC. Archaeological findings
indicate that, also thanks to the favorable position offered by the
crossing of the Lamone river, the salary route that carried salt
through the Apennines Etruria and Campania, and the foothills road
that the Romans would later have paved and called Aemilia, the
inhabitants of the area had contacts with Umbrian tribes, with the
Etruscans and perhaps also with the Sabines, before the invasion of
the Celts. Pliny, referring to the early republican times, speaks of
"Faenza peoples" allied to the Romans and Silio Italico in his
description of the Second Punic War (218 BC) tells how the Faenza
people, unlike the Celtic settlements in the area, supported the
Romans against the Carthaginians. What is certain is that, after the
definitive Roman conquest of Cisalpine Gaul, around 180 BC. a colony
was established in the territory which was given the auspicious name
of Faventia, which means "favorable city" or "friendly city" and
therefore this is the event that sanctions the birth of the real
city.
The settlement was ascribed to the Pollia tribe and
developed thanks to agricultural, textile and ceramic production.
Here, in 82 BC the Sillan Cecilio Metello defeated the army of
popularis Gneo Papirio Carbone, during the civil wars of the late
Roman republic. With the birth of the Roman Empire and the
subsequent administrative reorganization desired by Augustus, it
became part of the Regio VIII.
Between the first and second
century AD. the city settlement expanded, also expanding outside the
original pomerium. In this period Faventia is remembered for having
been the city of residence of one of the most important families of
the time, the gens Avidia di Gaio Avidio Nigrino, Roman consul and
grandfather of the future emperor Lucio Vero.
The first
certain testimony of a bishop from Faenza, Constantius, dates back
to the early years of the fourth century, demonstrating the presence
of the Christian religion in the city.
The city was not
excessively affected by the crises of the late imperial period,
thanks to its proximity to Ravenna, the first seat of the imperial
fleet and later the capital of the Empire. Only in the late 5th
century did the widespread decline of Roman authority in the area
begin to manifest itself concretely also in Faenza.
Following
the fall of the Western Empire, it is remembered in the chronicles
for being the place where Tufa's betrayal of Theodoric took place
during the Conquest of Italy by Theodoric and for the battle fought
in 542, in which Totila and the Ostrogothic army defeated the
Byzantines. With the subsequent reconquest of Italy by the
Byzantines to the detriment of the Goths, Faenza became part of the
Exarchate. The first city walls, built to defend the city from the
Lombards, dates back to the eighth century. Liutprando's army
besieged and conquered it in 740 and later, together with the rest
of today's Romagna, it changed hands numerous times between the
Lombards and Byzantines until the definitive descent into Italy of
Charlemagne who, at the end of the campaign against the Lombards,
nominally ceded it to the Church in 774.
At the time of the pacification of the territory by Charlemagne,
Faventia was a city prostrated by centuries of decline and further
devastated by the Lombard wars. The urban area, which at the moment
of maximum expansion in Roman times (3rd century AD) could contain
twelve thousand inhabitants, had significantly reduced and the early
medieval walls enclosed only a portion of what had been the Roman
city.
The last two centuries of the first millennium saw a
slow recovery of the city, witnessed by the construction of some
important places of worship, and a significant evolution of its
political life. Faenza was in fact under the jurisdiction of the
Holy See but over the centuries the Carolingian model of government
of the city began to evolve towards what would become the municipal
model.
In the 11th century the presence of a consul is attested for the
first time in Faenza (1045). Slightly later are the first evidence
of disagreements with neighboring cities. In fact, in 1079 the
people of Faenza, with the help of the French count of Vitry,
defeated the Ravenna inhabitants who had invaded the Faenza
territory between Albereto and Prada, driving them out.
The
figures of the consuls, chosen from among the major city families,
were later joined by a foreign mayor. In both cases, the office
lasted one year. The oldest mayor appears in a document of 1155.
Starting from the second half of the 12th century, Faenza, like
all of central-northern Italy, became a place of confrontation
between supporters of the papacy and the emperor and at the same
time the Manfredi family began to establish itself as one of the
most important families in the city. Already distinguished in some
of the now usual battles against neighboring municipalities, in the
early months of 1164 the Manfredis in fact hosted in their Faenza
houses the emperor Frederick I Barbarossa, who came to Italy for a
military campaign. Later they obtained important vassal rights from
the sovereign of the Holy Roman Empire, which increased their
influence on the Romagna city.
Within a few years, however,
there were two important changes concerning Faenza politics. The
devolution of powers from the consuls to the podestà had in fact a
dramatic acceleration: on 9 February 1184 a people's uprising led to
riots and looting and, to restore order, the authority in the hands
of the consuls was attributed in full to the Milanese Podestà
Guglielmo. Butter. At the same time, moreover, Faenza had moved away
from the Ghibelline positions to get closer to the Guelph ones, so
much so that in 1175 the imperial troops tried unsuccessfully to
bring it back under imperial obedience. In 1185 the imperial legate
Berthold von Königsberg decided to take advantage of the complex
political situation in the city and brought Ghibelline armies from
Ravenna, Forlì and Forlimpopoli to the Faenza territory, but the
Faenza defeated the Ghibelline army soundly forcing the imperial
legate to make peace. The years between the end of the twelfth and
the beginning of the thirteenth century were characterized by the
stabilization of the new municipal political order, which saw the
Podestà govern the city but ensured the direct representation of the
people in public offices through the Credenza Council, and by a
certain demographic and economic growth of the city, as evidenced by
the expansion of the city walls near the monastery of Santa Maria
Foris Portam and the construction of some external canals that
surrounded and protected the entire town.
In 1226 Faenza joined the second Lombard League (the only one
among the Romagna cities). The imperial reaction was harsh:
Frederick II besieged it, but without success. In the Guelph period
the city was often opposed by the Ghibelline Forlì. In 1237
Frederick II defeated the Lombard League. Power over Faenza was
assigned to the Ghibelline family of Accarisi, who drove out the
Manfredi Guelphs. But the latter regained power. In 1239 Faenza was
the only Guelph city in Romagna.
In 1241 the city of Manfreda
returned to the emperor's sights. Frederick II put it under siege
again and took it, after an unexpected resistance of seven months.
The help of the Forlì Ghibellines and their captain, Teobaldo
Ordelaffi, proved decisive. On this occasion, Federico, found
himself short of resources, had Augustals in leather minted by the
mint of Forlì, which he then repaid in gold, after the victory over
Faenza. The merits acquired by the Forlì people from the Emperor
were however helpful to the Faenza themselves: in fact, Frederick
had already issued the order to destroy the city, when the
intercession of the Forlì people, sorry for such a fate, convinced
him to return to the his decision and to spare Faenza. However, the
Germanic emperor ordered to tear down the walls and built a new
fortress in the western part of the city.
Tebaldello, who opened Faenza when you sleep
(Inf. XXXII, 122)
In addition to Tebaldello, other characters from Faenza were
mentioned in the Divine Comedy. Faentino is, in fact, Friar Alberigo
dei Manfredi, located in the third area of the last circle of
Hell, that of the traitors of the guests, at canto XXXIII, and is
the last sinner (therefore the worst) to dialogue with Dante.
Brother Alberigo is condemned to hellish torture following the
betrayal perpetrated against his own relatives, during a dinner of
reconciliation, the famous dinner of the "Frutta del mal orto". The
honor of the city is redeemed in the XXI canto of the Paradise where
Pier Damiani appears. Other characters from Faenza are mentioned in
the 14th canto of the Purgatory.
In 1290 Faenza passed under
the power of Maghinardo Pagani, lord of Susinana, who took advantage
of the division between Guelphs and Ghibellines. Maghinardo carved
out a very important role for himself in the history of the city and
proved to be an excellent politician and a shrewd strategist. In
1313 the lordship of the Manfredi family began. The first Lord was
Francesco Manfredi (1260 ca. - 1343). Carlo II Manfredi (1439-1484)
renovated the urban center with the construction of the cathedral
and the people's palace). In the Renaissance era it became famous
for the production of ceramic objects, exported throughout Europe.
For this reason the toponym itself has become synonymous with
majolica in many languages, including French (faïance) and English
(faience).
Galeotto Manfredi, brother of Carlo II Manfredi,
who succeeded him, weapons in hand, at the helm of the city, remains
famous for the conspiracy hatched against him by his wife Francesca
Bentivoglio; tradition has it that his wife was blinded by jealousy
towards Cassandra Pavoni, Galeotto's lover. More realistically, it
is easy to think that the real reason for the murder is to be found
in the relations between Manfredi and the Lords of Bologna.
In 1500 the city was besieged by the mercenary troops of Cesare
Borgia, to which it resisted for 6 months led by the sixteen year
old Astorgio Manfredi, then captured by treason and imprisoned in
Rome by the Valentino. A few years later the body of the young lord
was found in the waters of the Tiber.
Guicciardini, who
certainly does not exalt Valentino like his friend Machiavelli,
dedicates a passage from his History of Italy to the siege of
Faenza:
The Valentino was full of great sorrow that, having
besides the Franzese forces a very flourishing army of Italian
captains and soldiers (...), and having promised, with his boundless
concepts, that neither seas nor mountains would resist him, the fame
of the princes of his militia had been obscured by a people who
lived in long peace, and who at that time had no other leader but a
child
(Francesco Guicciardini, History of Italy, 1540)
In 1502 Leonardo da Vinci arrived in Faenza at the invitation of
Borgia. The Tuscan genius created the project for a network of
underground tunnels to be used in an emergency. It is not known
whether the network was actually built. In 1503, with the death of
his father Pope Alexander VI, the ephemeral kingdom of Borgia
collapsed. Immediately afterwards, the Romagna families who were
ousted by Cesare Borgia offered to submit to the Republic of Venice
on condition that they regain their dominions over their respective
cities. The Venetian Senate accepted and the Serenissima took
possession of Rimini, Faenza and other places. The act deeply
irritated the new pontiff, the Genoese Julius II, who, having
imprisoned the Borgia, set out to re-establish the papal possession
of those lands. The pope therefore pushed on September 22, 1504
France and the Empire to make a treaty in Blois for the future
partition of the Venetian dominions.
To avoid war, Venice
offered in 1505 to return the occupied lands to the pope, with the
exception of Rimini and Faenza. The pope then asked the new Emperor
Maximilian I of Habsburg to attack Venice. Maximilian went down to
Italy on the pretext of reaching Rome for the imperial coronation.
Unexpectedly defeated, the emperor even risked losing Trieste and
Fiume and was forced to ask for a truce. When the Doge of Venice, by
virtue of his ancient episcopal prerogatives, claimed to appoint the
new bishop of Vicenza, the main European states found the casus
belli to attack the Republic, accused of overriding the right of the
Church over the bishops. On 10 December 1508, Julius II publicly
joined the League of Cambrai with France, the Empire, Spain and the
Duchy of Ferrara. Then he launched the ban on the Serenissima and
appointed Duke Alfonso I d'Este as Gonfaloniere of the Holy Roman
Church. The Venetians were defeated by the French in the Battle of
Agnadello. At that point, however, the pope, worried by the growing
power of foreigners over Italy, on February 24, 1510, having
withdrawn the interdict, allied himself with Venice, excommunicating
Alfonso d'Este and calling the Swiss to help. Venice, having
survived the danger of the war of the League of Cambrai, kept aloof
from the new Italian conflicts by focusing on the Turkish threat.
When peace was restored, however, she was forced to cede the lands
of Romagna to the Papal State.
Papal dominion and the
Napoleonic parenthesis
During the Guicciardini government of
papal Romagna, the city enjoyed particular favor, so much so that
the historian stayed there for almost the whole of 1525. It was in
this period that Faenza attracted many persecuted religious from
northern and eastern Europe. The Church was not slow to take the
necessary countermeasures. In fact, after the Council of Trent,
Faenza became the seat of the Tribunal of the Holy Inquisition for
Romagna.
On June 15, 1583, the construction of an underground
conduit was begun to bring water from nearby Errano to the main
square, according to an accurate project by the Dominican Father
Domenico Paganelli. The water was conveyed into a pipe made with
terracotta elements joined with a special mastic. Every 40-50 meters
there were inspection wells and, at variable intervals, thirteen
tanks were placed. The works ended in 1614. In the same period (end
of the 16th century) the military function of the walls ceased,
which was never restored. The ditches were also drained, and used as
mowing lawns.
Between 1597 and 1598 Faenza witnessed an
important dynastic change that involved nearby Ferrara. After the
death of Alfonso II d'Este, Pope Clement VIII did not recognize the
heir designated by the deceased duke, Cesare d'Este, and sent an
expeditionary force of nearly 30,000 soldiers to the Romagna city
led by his nephew, the future first legate pontifical Pietro
Aldobrandini charged with representing the Holy See, ready to
intervene to impose the will of Rome. Cesare attempted an agreement
with the pope by sending Lucrezia d'Este to parliament with
Aldobrandini, underestimating the noblewoman's hatred for the Este
and probably thinking that Lucrezia's known closeness to the Church
could help him. Then events precipitated. Cesare was excommunicated
and the meeting between the papal emissary and the ambassador
produced the Faenza Convention. This agreement granted the dominion
of Ferrara to the Holy See and Cesare was thus forced to accept all
conditions, even the most unfavorable ones, and to prepare to
abandon the ancient capital of the duchy. The devolution of Ferrara
was thus sanctioned.
In 1608, the well-known physicist and mathematician Evangelista
Torricelli, disciple of Galileo and inventor of the barometer, was
born in Rome to Faenza parents.
The eighteenth century was
characterized by intense building activity, which radically changed
the appearance of many of the major buildings, both religious and
civil. In 1752 the demolition works of the fortress were started.
The current hospital was built on the site of the fortress, which
came into operation in 1763. In the years 1759-63 the loggia in
front of the Palazzo del Podestà was built. In 1766 the construction
of the "Chiavicone dei Servi" or Porta Ponte, the first and main
modern sewer of the city, still functioning today, was contracted
out. A few years earlier (1760) the livestock market had been
transferred from the Borgo to Porta Imolese. Outside the Walls, the
eighteenth century was the century of the birth of the first suburbs
lined up along the roads leaving the city; the oldest was the one on
the right side of Corso Garibaldi, just outside Porta Ravegnana.
In the second half of the century Faenza became an important
center of Italian neoclassicism. "The highest moment in the artistic
history of Faenza is in the years between 1780 and 1815. In those
years the city of Romagna was in dialogue with the world, it was an
avant-garde hub along the European axis of the arts that had its
chronological extremes on the one hand in the Rome of the
"Goethezeit" and therefore of Kauffmann, of Füssli, of Flaxman, of
Piranesi, on the other hand in the Paris of the Revolution and of
the Empire and in the Milan of the Italian Kingdom. In those years
the small city multiplied buildings bearing the names of the local
nobility (Laderchi, Gessi, Conti, Cavina, Milzetti); palaces that
are the most exquisite neoclassical civilization has produced in
Europe ». In 1781 the city was hit by a strong seismic swarm, which
lasted for months. The earthquake did not interrupt the construction
of the new bridge over the Marzeno stream, replacing the arch bridge
which collapsed in 1521 and since then replaced by a ferry. The new
infrastructure, still known today as Ponte Rosso, was inaugurated in
1782.
On January 20, 1783, the Zanelli canal was inaugurated,
the important waterway that connects Faenza to the Reno river,
passing through Bagnacavallo. The work, 35.4 km long, was built by
the will of Count Scipione Zanelli (1722-1792) with the funds made
available by Pope Pius VI. Designed by the engineer Romoaldo
Bertaglia, it was fed by the waters of the municipal canal coming
from the Errano Lock. The main purpose of the waterway was
commercial shipping, but at the same time it fed mills, hemp
macerators, piles to clean rice and other factories. The canal had a
flow rate of 2 cubic meters per second; navigation was carried out
by draft animals, which pulled the boats along the banks, suitably
shaded by thousands of poplars. The naviglio canal remained the
primary infrastructure for transporting goods for almost two hundred
years, until the opening of the Castelbolognese-Ravenna railway line
(1863).
The Book of Exercises, and Arts (1795) provides an
exhaustive picture of the commercial and craft activities present in
Faenza at the end of the eighteenth century. At the time, 375
businesses were registered. The most numerous categories were
carpenters (56), shoemakers (36), tailors (28) and blacksmiths (26).
The most prestigious activities were concentrated around the square:
goldsmiths, watchmakers, apothecaries, carvers, booksellers and
printers.
In 1797, near Faenza, on the Senio river, the
decisive battle (but with a predictable outcome) was fought between
the papal militias and Napoleon's army. We have a pleasant account
of the battle in the memoirs of Monaldo Leopardi, Giacomo's father:
All the papal militias numbered about ten thousand men [says
Leopardi senior], and a quarter of these people gradually gathered
in Faenza. Imola, because it was too close to Bologna, was
abandoned, and the resistance had to be made on the river [Senio]
which runs between the two aforementioned cities. (...) On February
2, 1797, in the morning, the French attacked, about ten thousand
strong. The bridge guns fired, and some Frenchmen died. Soon,
however, the enemy set about fording the river; and when the
commoners saw that the French were not afraid of getting their feet
wet: "Goodbye", they shouted in the field. "Save whoever can" and
they all fled for two hundred miles, nor did they stop as far as
Fuligno. I am not exaggerating, but I tell nakedly those events
which happened in my time, and of which I saw no part. A certain
Bianchi, an artillery major, was accused of having loaded the
cannons with the beans. I have read your printed defense, and it
seems sufficiently sculpted; but the fact of the beans was true, and
this machine gun figured in the war between the Pope and France.
(Monaldo Leopardi, Autobiographies, 1833)
Under the
Napoleonic occupation Faenza was the seat, between 1803 and 1815, of
the only high school in the Rubicon department, which included the
whole of Romagna, thanks to the commitment of the Faentine
intellectual Dionigi Strocchi (who directed from 1806 to 1809) and
of his friend Vincenzo Monti.
In 1881, out of 36,042 inhabitants there were five accountants,
eight doctors and six lawyers residing in Faenza. In 1891 Pietro
Nenni was born, historical leader of Italian socialism, considered
one of the fathers of the republic.
In 1895, Count Carlo
Zucchini, tireless soul of Faenza's Catholic associations for many
years, led the Catholic and liberal political forces to lead the
city, establishing such a preponderance that for Faenza the
expression "white island" was coined, to distinguish it from rest of
the "red" Romagna where the socialist and republican forces
prevailed.
The point of greatest splendor of post-unification
Faenza was reached in 1908 with the Torricelliana Exposition, an
imposing event that was visited and inaugurated by the King himself,
bringing Faenza to the national limelight. The exhibition brought
together contemporary ceramic products (from all over Europe) in the
rooms of the former convent of San Maglorio. Together with them,
many examples produced by ancient Italian furnaces have been
exhibited. After the Exposition, thanks to the gifts of the
exhibitors, the International Museum of Ceramics was born.
As
proof of the influence of Faentine art, on 18 August 2006 the
Premier of Québec Jean Charest announced the discovery of the first
French colony in Canada, that of Charlesbourg-Royal, and that a
fragment of a decorated plate made in Faenza was found there.
between 1540 and 1550, certainly owned by the aristocratic commander
of the colony.
During the Second World War Faenza was bombed
several times: the first attack occurred on May 2, 1944. On May 13 a
second attack was carried out. During that very hard year, the city
was hit about a hundred times. Two thirds of the town were
destroyed. The bishop, Msgr. Antonio Scarante.
The city was
liberated by the New Zealand troops (2nd New Zealand Division) on
December 16, 1944. In the partisan struggle they particularly
distinguished themselves:
Benigno Zaccagnini, who will be the
secretary of the Christian Democrats from 1975 to 1980;
Silvio
Corbari, who gave birth in 1943 to a partisan formation, which went
down in history as Banda Corbari; following the killing of Gustavo
Marabini, consul of the fascist militia, Silvio Corbari was captured
and later hanged in Castrocaro.
the footballer Bruno Neri, gifted
sportsman and courageous fighter, who died in the mountains of
Tredozio, near the hermitage of Gamogna.
Faenza is a municipality (comune) in the Province of Ravenna, within
the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy, specifically in the
historic Romagna subregion. It sits at approximately 44.2856° N,
11.8833° E (city center coordinates around 44°17′N 11°53′E). The city
lies along the ancient Roman Via Emilia (a straight Roman road that
still defines much of the regional alignment) and the Lamone River,
roughly 15 km east of Imola, 15 km west of Forlì, 35 km southwest of
Ravenna, 40 km from Cesena, and 55 km southeast of Bologna.
The
municipal territory covers about 215.72 km² and supports a population of
around 58,000–59,000. It forms part of the Union of Faenza Romagna and
serves as the seat of the Diocese of Faenza-Modigliana.
Topography and Terrain
Faenza occupies a transitional foothill zone
at the boundary between the flat Po Valley (Pianura Padana) to the north
and the initial slopes of the Faenza Apennines (part of the Northern
Apennine chain) to the south and southwest. This creates a diverse local
landscape within a relatively short distance:
The city itself sits at
an official elevation of ~35 m (115 ft) above sea level (infobox often
lists 34 m).
The broader municipality ranges from a low of 13 m in
the alluvial plains to a high of 220 m in the Apennine foothills.
The
terrain slopes gently northward into the broad, low-lying Po Plain
(elevations generally under 100 m in the upper plain) and rises more
sharply southward into rolling hills and low mountains.
The
plains show traces of ancient Roman centuriation (a grid-like field
division system), while the hills feature terraced slopes ideal for
viticulture. Neighboring hilly areas (e.g., toward Brisighella and
frazioni like Oriolo dei Fichi) include medieval hamlets on ridges with
panoramic views. The overall relief is subtle compared to the higher
Apennines farther south but creates a clear visual and ecological
divide: fertile flatlands for intensive agriculture transition to wooded
slopes and vineyards.
Hydrography: The Lamone River and Drainage
The Lamone River is the defining hydrological feature. It originates in
the Northern Apennines (higher elevations south of Faenza), flows
northward through the municipality and directly through the city, then
continues across the plain to the Adriatic Sea near Ravenna. The river
divides parts of Faenza historically (e.g., the Borgo Durbecco district
lies on the right/east bank). Its alluvial deposits have shaped the
local soils and provided clay historically vital for Faenza’s
world-renowned ceramics industry (majolica/Faenza ware).
The Lamone
basin upstream of Faenza is relatively small (~520 km² in some studied
sections), but the river is dynamic: it forms alluvial fans and
floodplains where it exits the hills onto the plain. Like many Apennine
rivers in Emilia-Romagna, it has a history of flooding (notable events
in 1842, 2023, and 2024), exacerbated by steep upstream gradients,
intense rainfall, and occasional embankment failures. Smaller
tributaries and streams drain the surrounding hills, contributing to a
network that supports irrigation in the plains.
Climate
Faenza
has a humid temperate climate with hot summers (Köppen classification
Cfa; Italian climate zone E). It shows subcontinental influences due to
its inland position and the orographic lift effect from the nearby
Apennine hills, which increases precipitation slightly compared to the
open plain. Summers are warm-to-hot and humid; winters are mild but can
dip below freezing.
Annual precipitation averages around 774 mm,
distributed fairly evenly but peaking in autumn (Oct–Nov) and spring.
Summers are drier, though thunderstorms can occur. The orographic effect
from the hills adds moisture compared to purely coastal or open-plain
sites. Heating degree days average 2,263, reflecting moderate winter
cold.
Geology, Soils, and Land Use
Faenza’s geology reflects
its position on the Apennine margin. The plains consist of alluvial
deposits and gravel/sand fans from Apennine rivers (including the
Lamone), creating fertile but flood-prone lowlands. Farther from the
river, finer silts and clays dominate (historically used for ceramics).
The foothills feature more consolidated sedimentary and flysch
formations typical of the Northern Apennines, with occasional gypsum or
ophiolitic outcrops in the broader regional context (e.g., nearby Vena
del Gesso).
Land use is predominantly agricultural (~70–80% of the
territory):
Plains → cereals, vegetables (shallots, potatoes,
zucchini), fruits (peaches, kiwifruit, pears, etc.), and fodder.
Hills → vineyards (notable local grapes include Albana, Sangiovese,
Centesimino) and orchards.
The area supports livestock (cattle,
pigs, poultry) and retains some natural riparian corridors along the
Lamone, though much of the plain is intensively farmed and channeled for
irrigation and flood control. Public green spaces (e.g., Bucci Park) and
sustainability initiatives (Torricelli Science Park) highlight ongoing
environmental focus.