Five things to visit in Portico di Romagna

If you arrived here, it probably means you are a real Italy lover, trying to explore the Bel Paese, even far from the most odds destinations (Venice, Florence and Rome).

Italy offers a plenty “off the beaten paths” places, sometimes very hidden but mostly quite easy to find, especially if you have the time to take a map, watch it and then ask a local, a real one I mean.

Portico di Romagna is one of these gems. Let’s discover the best five things to see in the place.

The National Park of Foreste Casentinesi and Monte Falterona

Emilia Romagna is all around region. You can find different landscapes, eat and drink different dishes and wines (Emilia and Romagna may be quite the opposite for some reasons concerning this aspect), going from the mountains to the sea in a very short time.

Romagna is a kind of microcosms: the Tuscan Romagna with high mountains, snow in winter and fresh waters and lots of animals in summer, and the sea, hundreds of kilometers of beaches with a flat sea, right for family and children but also for those who love sports.

The National Park of Foreste Casentinesi and Monte Falterona is a 370.000 square kilometers park, right across Tuscany and Romagna. Portico di Romagna is one of the boroughs inside the park. And that is the first special thing. Wild nature, animals, trekking paths, and all you can think you can do in a natural place, can be done here.

The Albergo Diffuso

Once a new concept, now it is quite common in Italy, still not yet in Romagna. Here the Hotel is not a usual one: the rooms (quite different from the ones of a normal hotel) are scattered throughout the borough, having only one main center in the noble palace placed in the main street, where the Hotel is and also the Restaurant. If you have the chance to stay there, you will have the time to discover the concept of Albergo Diffuso with us

The Maestà ancient Bridge

These mountains have a lot of rivers, not as big as you may imagine (we do not have big rivers like in the Us) but big enough to make the area green and full of plants. Historically speaking, these were wild areas where even the romans had their hard times to arrive and to live. Bridges, so called “ a schiena d’asino” ( like a back of a donkey), are very common. Driving along the SS 67 that takes from Forlì (the main town of the area) you will find another one going towards Premilcuore, another little borough in the area.

The Maestà Bridge (dedicated to the Virgin Mary) probably exist since XIV century. It helped people to cross the Tramazzo river, a very wild little torrent, flowing down and going into the bigger Montone river. The bridge is still original and no restoration has been done since it was build. So you will have the chance to walk on the original pavement like the pilgrims of centuries ago. The bridge ends with a little church or chapel called Visitazione that is on the Cammino di Assisi, the route that Saint Francesco did going from Tuscany to Romagna.

Where Dante met Beatrice

It’s barely a legend, but someone still believes that Dante first met Beatrice here. Portinari Palace is in center of the borough. It was the residential house of Folco Portinari, father of Beatrice, who used to spend some time in Portico during summer.

And probably here Dante, fleeing from Florence for political reasons, happened to stay here and met Beatrice. As a matter of fact, there is no historical evidence of this event, just a legend made on remembering of people but it is still emotional to think that the Divina Commedia was inspired by this place.

Once there was a fortress: the Church of Santa Maria in Girone

Emilia Romagna and its Apennines can be also seen as a long line of fortresses, castles, donjons and guard towers, everyone part of a defensive system again the barbarian invasions coming from the North. Portico also had its fortress built by the Guidi family around the X century and destroyed in the Middle Age. The fortress was built together with the castle of Dovadola, a little borough near Portico, now in restoration.

The church was originally the one of the castle, built in the highest piece of rock of the borough. It was completely rebuilt in 1776. Near the square you can also find the Italian School, were many tourists and students come in summer to learn Italian and down the public park where you can admire the square tower of the castle.

Much more you can find to be seen, but we will let you enjoy your visit, exploring the borough and its people by yourselves.

Info

If you arrive at the airport of Bologna, take a train and stop at Forlì railway station. You can take a bus that takes you directly to Portico, even if it is not the best way to arrive. A car is still the best solution to arrive, also because you will love to visit the surroundings. The Albergo Diffuso Vecchio Convento is the main Hotel and also a very good restaurant. You can find info in this website. A part from visiting the borough, ask for trekking experience in the park and for workshops in the little artisans shops scattered here.