Pinewoods of Ravenna
Although originally much more extensive, today the Ravenna Pinewood is a green area of about 2000 hectares that runs parallel to the Adriatic coast. Due to its enormous historical and naturalistic value, the pine forest is a protected area and part of the large Po Delta Regional Park.
The Ravenna Pinewood has played an important role in the city's history: in particular, many scholars agree in identifying it with the 'wild forest' that Dante Alighieri mentions in his Divine Comedy. The Supreme Poet stayed in Ravenna in the last years of his life after his exile from Florence, and probably drew inspiration precisely from the Ravenna pine forest for his work.
Dante was a guest of the noble Da Polenta family, lords of Ravenna, and remained so until the year of his death in 1321. Today his remains rest in Dante's Tomb, a small mausoleum located next to the Basilica of San Francesco.
The Roman origins of the Ravenna Pinewood
The Ravenna Pinewood Forest was built in Roman times in order to ensure a constant
supply of wood for the construction of ships at the
port of Classe.
The latter was built on the Adriatic coast by
Emperor Augustus, who wanted to create a large commercial port here to accommodate his immense fleet. Today Classe is a small town near Ravenna, therefore far from the coast, but at the time it overlooked the sea directly.The very name 'Classe' derives from the Latin
classis, meaning fleet.
The sudden growth of the port and consequently the constant need for wood to build new boats led to the planting of the first trees and the creation of the pine forest itself.
The history of the pine forest to the present day
The trees planted by the ancient Romans were mainly domestic pines, the ones we still see towering in the pine forest today. Thanks to the work of the
Camaldolese monks who became the owners of this place in the Middle Ages, we can still see
a portion of this forest today, although much reduced compared to the original one.
Over the centuries, the Camaldolese Order did their utmost to care for and maintain the various portions of the pine forest that existed at the time - the San Vitale, the Classe, the San Giovanni and the Cervia pine forest - which together reached an extension of 7000 hectares for about 30 km of coastline.
However, with the
arrival of Napoleon's troops at the end of the 18th century, the Camaldolese Order was abolished and the monks' property confiscated and privatised. This redistribution of the pine forest led to its dismemberment and partial destruction. As a result, the total surface area dropped significantly.
The
devastation of Ravenna's pine forest continued into the 19th century, when, due to very harsh winters, land owners decided to cut down trees to burn wood. A similar fate befell another portion of the forest in the years leading up to the First World War.
