Reggio Emilia: the echoes of Matilda and the tranquillity of the highlands

The journey through Emilia’s ‘silent travel’ experience comes to an end at the foot of the Matilde di Canossa mountains. In Reggio Emilia, even the Monumental Cemetery is transformed into an unusual open-air sculpture park that invites reflection, whilst the 16th-century Basilica of the Madonna della Ghiara welcomes visitors with the tranquillity of its grand frescoes, and in the Bassa region, the Great River marks out an extremely slow passage of time amongst the floodplains and the Isola degli Internati, a nature reserve on the banks of the River Po, within the municipality of Gualtieri. But it is in the Apennines that the geography of the spirit reaches its pinnacle. In the hamlet of Votigno di Canossa stands the Casa del Tibet, a cultural centre with a meditation hall that comes as a surprise amidst the chestnut groves, flanked by the Marola Seminary, a historic stopping place for pilgrims. Not far away, the Hermitage of Bismantova, embraced by the famous rock face, offers a sanctuary of prayer and silence that extends as far as the timeless stone villages and Lake Ventasso, with its cosy Rifugio Venusta on the shores. Here, on a ridge gazing up at the sky, the journey through Emilia-Romagna comes full circle: not merely a holiday, but a pause to reconnect with the voice of one’s own heart.