Corsini Canal, Ravenna in the papal era

Corsini Canal, Ravenna in the papal era. Hotels in the city centre.

Foto: 1)Canale Corsini view from centre city, 2)Canale Corsini,Il Moro di Venezia, 3)Canale Corsini, in Marina di Ravenna ,4)Canale Corsini, tourist harbour Marina di Ravenna, 5)Canale Corsini, opening to the sea

Ravenna is a sea town. The city has always had a special, often difficult, relationship with the sea.. Ravenna rose on the sea that gradually moved backwards under the action of detritus from rivers flowing down in this floodplain.

Despite its distance from the sea, it has always been an important maritime port and adjusted itself  to the dynamic transformation of the area.

Corsini Canal is the last of its ports and became navigable in 1738. Its realization was necessary after the previous Panfilio Canal, connecting the town to the sea, stopped being navigable.  During important hydraulic works to modify the stream of Ronco and Montone rivers, the new canal was dug to please the Pope Clemente XII , Lorenzo Corsini.

The new canal was named after the Pope and a statue - today in the National Museum - was erected in  the main square as a token of Ravenna gratitude.

Corsini Canal was straightened and enlarged during the time and radically restored  in the 1950s-1970s after the Second World War air raids.

Today the new port is outside the town, and the old harbour, once stretching along the city walls, buried.

The old docks by architect Camillo Morigia remain in via Magazzini Anteriori, once harbour eastern  shore.

Some ruins of the old Porta Alberoni, demolished to make space for the new railroad, still  remain today. Porta Alberoni was opened in the city walls in 1740, at the end of new Giulio Alberoni Street that connected the Course (Via di Roma) to the port: a tribute to the papal legate that brought to an end the hydraulic works of that time.

Prof. Gianni Morelli

The pleasure of fine accommodation in the centre of Ravenna: we recommend the Fabbri hotels for a pleasant stay as follows:

The Centrale Byron Hotel, 3-star hotel in the centre of Ravenna, close to the main momuments;

The Bisanzio Hotel, 4-star hotel in the centre of Ravenna, close to the main momuments;

Once you have reached the hotel and parked your car, forget it and walk everywhere, because everything is within walking distance.

The railway station is near our hotels and within walking distance