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History of Emilia Romagna

Populated long ago by the Etruscans who had made it their outpost for trade with Northern Europe, the region, and more specifically the city of Ravenna, became the location for the last capital of the Roman Empire.

During the Middle Ages trading activities, culture and religion flourished thanks to the region's monasteries and the University of Bologna - the oldest university in Europe - its bustling towns, and its politics - embodied in the historic figure of Matilda of Canossa. In the Renaissance it became the seat for refined seigniories such as the Este family of Ferrara and the Malatesta of Rimini. In the centuries that followed the region was divided between the rule of the Papal State, the Farnese Duchy of Parma and Piacenza and the Este Duchy of Modena and Reggio.

It was in Reggio Emilia during the Italian Risorgimento that the tricolour flag, later to become the flag of a unified Italy, was first used. Almost entirely marshland in ancient times, its history is characterised by the hard work of its people to reclaim and reshape the land in order to achieve a better standard of living. Today Emilia Romagna is an industrious place, rich in high-quality small and medium-sized companies (Ferrari is a good example) and it is a land where hospitality comes as second nature and which has managed to turn its people's sunny and cosmopolitan disposition into the biggest and most organised tourist area in Europe.

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