FAENZA - CODE: OSPFNZ

Rispuose adunque: "I' son frate Alberigo;

i' son quel da le frutta del mal orto,

che qui riprendo dattero per figo".

"Oh!" diss' io lui, "or se' tu ancor morto?".

Ed elli a me: "Come 'l mio corpo stea

nel mondo su, nulla scienza porto. (...)"

(Inferno, Canto XXXIII)

 

Le città di Lamone e di Santerno

conduce il lioncel dal nido bianco,

che muta parte da la state al verno.

(Inferno, Canto XXVII)

 

Quando in Bologna un Fabbro si ralligna?

quando in Faenza un Bernardin di Fosco,

verga gentil di picciola gramigna?

(Purgatorio, Canto XIV)

 

It's a beautiful city of art of Roman origins, whose fame started in the Middle Ages thanks to its production of exquisitely crafted ceramics, exported to many European countries. The city's name itself has become synonymous with ceramics (majolica) in many languages, including French (faïance) and English (faïence). After a period of decline that started in the 2nd century and continued until the Middle Ages, Faenza became prosperous again in the 8th century. Around the year 1000, with the rule of bishops, and then with the age of the Commune, the city began a long period of richness and building expansion which reached its peak with the Signoria of the Manfredi family. After a brief period of Venetian domination, Faenza became part of the Papal States until 1859.

 

Faenza and Dante:

Dante got to know Faenza and its dialect, which he described in De Vulgari Eloquentia, distinguishing it from the Ravenna dialect. He certainly visited the city during his wanderings in Romagna. There are some Faenza figures in the Divine Comedy: for example, Alberigo Manfredi, of the secular order of the Jovial Friars, was very well known in Faenza in the final years of the 13th century. His nefarious act (he treacherously killed two relatives of his for an offence received) made him famous well beyond the city walls, so much that Dante, when he described this episode, did not even feel the need to go into details. Dante puts Alberigo in the depths of hell: the frozen river Cocytus, where traitors are sent. He's not the only figure from Faenza, though. In Dante's Inferno, we also find the Ghibelline Tebaldello de' Zambrasi (who opened wide the doors of the city to the Bologna Guelphs in 1280, betraying his own side and causing a bloody battle), while the intrepid and fierce condottiero Maghinardo Pagani da Susinana (who, in 1300 was lord of Faenza, Forlì and Imola) is mentioned and reproached for his political opportunism. The second half of the 13th century was indeed a very difficult time all over Romagna, which was shaken by fierce struggles between powerful Guelph and Ghibelline families. Faenza, where the fortune of the Manfredi alternated with that of the Pagani, was no exception.

 

Monuments:

In the historical centre, which is prevalently 17th-18th century, there are beautiful palaces and churches, grouped around two adjoining piazzas, del Popolo and della Libertà: the former, delimited by two porticoed wings facing the Palazzo delPodestà and the Town Hall, once the Manfredi family home; the latter, featuring the late 15th century Cathedral, which houses numerous works of art from the Renaissance, and the monumental Fountain whose bronzes date back to the 17th century.

 

MIC - The International Museum of Ceramics:

This is one of the most important museums of ceramics in the world. In the display room you'll find works from Italian workshops from the Middle Ages to the 19th century; from the Ancient Near East; from the Mediterranean area during the Hellenic era; pre-Columbian and Islamic artifacts. A large section is dedicated to modern and contemporary ceramics.

 

In town you can find more than sixty ceramic boutiques where craftsmen and artists produce items with a certified trademark, in shapes and decorations that range from historic reproductions to artistic experimentation.