Town guided tours - Along the arcades of the via Emilia

Information

42121 Reggio nell'Emilia
Route in the town centre

Route characteristics

Route in the town centre along: Piazza Battisti - Via Emilia San Pietro - Via Roma - Arcades of Via Emilia San Pietro - Viale Monte Grappa

Route description

From Piazza Battisti we travel east along the Via Emilia, “decumano massimo” (decuman maximum) of the old Roman city, flanked by some of the most representative buildings of the city. On the right at n. 5, you can see the nineteenth-century Palazzo Corbelli (the facade was designed by Pietro Marchelli), while on the opposite side you can see Palazzo Guicciardi, on the corner with Via San Nicolò, renovated in the eighteenth century by the architect Giovanni Maria Ferraroni and then restored in the nineteenth century by the same Marchelli, when the building was bought by the Spalletti Trivelli family, owners of the adjacent building. The interior is rich with important decorative episodes from the nineteenth century, such as the ceiling showing Apollo con il corteggio delle Ore, a work by Prospero Minghetti, or the grand ballroom with the motifs of fake colonnades and curtains painted by Vincenzo Carnevali.

At this point we recommend a deviation in Via San Nicolò for a quick visit to the church of the same name, on the corner with Via Sessi and above all to visit the charming fifteenth century cloister.
Back on Via Emilia San Pietro, on the right we pass Via Roma, the junction between the “decumano massimo” (decuman maximum) and the “cardo” (thistle) took place in the Roman city more or less in this area, which then continued in Via Resti ending in Via Galgana.

The series of aristocratic buildings continues: in particular on the right, at the corner of Via Boiardi, you can see the Fiordibelli-Boiardi house (also from the fifteenth century), at numbers 27-29 Palazzo Fontanelli Sacrati, restored with integrations in 1928-29, which is characterised by the pretty courtyard with the old well made of Verona marble, (at the corner of Via San Girolamo) Palazzo Cassoli, then Torello-Malaspina, with a charming courtyard inside with arcades on three sides and decorated with pleasing sculptures. To end this series of fifteenth century buildings, we come to the important Palazzo Ruini, in front of the church of Saint Peter: the famous architect from Ferrara Biagio Rossetti should direct the restoration of the oldest part of the building, overlooking Via San Girolamo.
From here, walking along Via San Girolamo, we recommend a deviation to visit the church with the same name, open on request, a real jewel of baroque architecture.
The visit to the Via Emilia reserves two more surprises: once past the church of Saint Peter, on the left, to frame the road with the same name, you can see the Arco del Follo arch, built between 1797 and 1800 and designed by Domenico Marchelli, celebrating the victories of Napoleon. Finally, once you arrive in Piazza del Tricolore, on your right you can see the last of the two tollhouses, designed in 1877 by the architect Achille Grimaldi, still standing today (today one of the municipal chemist's shops is in the tollhouse).