|
Cervia |
|
Cervia is one of the most popular holiday resorts in the Riviera. It enjoys international fame and every year about four million tourists, both Italians and people from abroad, come to visit this beautiful town, where holidays are characterised by a sense of well-being, enjoyment and relaxation.
The renowned hospitality of Romagna, the unique pine forest, Pineta, and the salt-mines, Saline, the beach of fine sand, the late-seventeenth-century historical centre, the cycle paths, the tree-lined avenues, the high quality accommodation, the elegant shops, and the endless festivals and events organized throughout the year, all make your stay in Cervia an unforgettable experience.
The heart of Cervia is Piazza Garibaldi, which periodically hosts events, fairs and concerts. The square contains architecturally and artistically significant buildings, such as the eighteenth century Cathedral of the Assumption, which holds the sixteenth-century table of the Madonna of the Snow attributed to the painter Barbara Longhi, and the porticoed building of the Town Hall, featuring the Clock Tower. In the adjacent Piazza Pisacane, the ancient marketplace, there is a striking building where the ancient fish-markets were housed.
Continuing along the streets of the city centre, one can admire the old salt houses, the Municipal Theatre, the Church of Suffrage, with its "Callido" organ, and the Tower of St. Michael, built in 1691 to defend the city from the Turks and the Saracens.
On the banks of the Saline Canal stand the Magazzini del Sale, today the home of Musa (the Salt Museum) and an exhibition section that regularly hosts prestigious exhibitions. On the right bank, where there is a store called Darsena, one can find the Fountain of the Hanging Carpet, a multicolored mosaic created for the occasion of the 300 year anniversary of the founding of the city, by the artist Mark Bravura in the style of Tonino Guerra.
The Salina of Cervia, gateway to the south and located in the Regional Park of the Po Delta, is an ideal environment for birds to nest or stop off during migration.
The park’s visitor centre offers three interesting routes: natural, historical and productive.
The latter leads to the Camillone saltworks, the only one of the 149 basins that made up the saltmines of Cervia, to have maintained continuous salt production from the time of its origins until 1959. Today the Camillone saltmines are supported by the Slow Food movement for the exceptional quality of their "sweet salt".