"Faenza" (Faience) is a synonym for pottery worldwide, but is chiefly a place where the ceramic art has indissolubly linked the new and the antique and where a lively artistic sense is found in the crafts workshops, palazzos and art schools, not to mention tourist and cultural events. Situated on Via Emilia, between sea and hills, halfway between Bologna and Rimini and at the intersection of the road that links Ravenna and Florence, as early as the 14th century the town was an important political and cultural meeting point, thanks to the rule of the Manfredi family who built up strong bonds with Medici Florence and that city's artistic and cultural environment. In the 16th century Faenza's artistic and technological abilities in the pottery field became famous throughout Europe: styles and decorations such as bianchi, belle donne and compendiario began to be known beyond the Alps as "faiences". A widespread culture continued to enlighten the town for centuries and to embellish it with monuments. At the end of the 18th century, the period which art historians call "neoclassical", the present day face of the town was formed at the hands of the masters Pistocchi, Antolini, Giani and Trentanove. Faenza today retains its ancient flavour intact, suspended between 15th century elegance and a widespread neoclassicism, The urban spaces themselves are masterpieces: the imposing Piazza del Popolo and Piazza della Libertà, where one notes the renaissance division between municipal and religious power; the late 15th century Duomo: the early 17th century monumental Fountain;
Palazzo Milzetti (today Museum of the Neoclassical Age in Romagna); the Picture Gallery; the Theatre, the intimate Piazza Nenni or della Molinella, the elegant frescoed palazzos of the historic centre; these alternate with a lively commercial fabric consisting of potters' workshops, antique dealers, refined boutiques, wine bars and inns. Faenza is sober and elegant, but the tranquillity that reigns does not make it provincial or boring: museums, schools and ceramics institutions attract artists and students from all over the world who often decide, having completed their work or studies, to take up residence in the town, thus fuelling that magic sense of serenity, artistic liveliness and sociability which leaves the visitor with the sensation of a place where the philosophy of living well is cultivated.
