Town in the province of Ravenna, Lugo was inhabited since the Neolithic Ages, as evidenced by recent archaeological finds that have been unearthed and the remains of dwelling villages. However, the first certain evidence of a settlement dates back to 782, as its name appears in a document edited by Pope Adrian I. In 1161 Lugo was given in fief by Frederick Barbarossa to the Counts of Cunio, while in 1202, it returned to the archbishop of Ravenna, who started the construction of the first defensive systems. Between the XIV and XV centuries the town was ruled by various noble families until 1437, when it was acquired by the Este family of Ferrara, that ruled until 1597, year in which, the last heir of the family died and so the city was returned to the Church , to which it belonged until 1859.
Sites of Interest:
- the remains of the Neolithic period, unearthed in 1982;
- the Rocca Estense, built near to XIII century keep of Uguccione Faggiola, whose present form dates back to the XVI century, when Alfonso II d'Este demolished the citadel. From the courtyard, a staircase leads to a beautiful roof garden, built in extremely charming spot for the historical framework in which it is inserted;
- the Pavaglione, an imposing portico designed by Giuseppe Campana in the second half of the XVIII century, to accommodate the famous silkworm cocoon market;
- the Oratory of the Open Cross in neo-Gothic style, built on an existing and ancient religious structure of which few traces remain;
- the Church of the Carmine, which was rebuilt in the XVIII century (the original structure is of the XIII century), inside is preserved the pipe organ, on which the young Rossini used to exercise;
- the Baroque Church of the Suffrage, which is divided into three aisles, and embellished with fine stucco and Baroque artworks of Ignazio Stern;
- the Collegiate Church of Saints Francesco and Ilaria, originally built in Gothic style, it was rebuilt in the XVIII century by Cosimo Morelli in the neo-Classical style. Interestingly, the cloister of 1471;
- the Church of San Francesco di Paola, in which houses a fascinating "Dead Christ", a polychrome group statue in terracotta of an anonymous XV century artist of Ferrara;
- the beautiful Church of Campanile, a cylindrical shaped Bell Tower, embellished with mullioned windows, in pure Byzantine-Ravenna taste;
- the XVI century Church of the Ascension;
- the Monument entitled to Francesco Baracca, an Italian air ace of World War I, as Lugo was his hometown and to whom, the fellow citizens dedicated a museum that houses his airplane the Spad VII, on whose cabin flank appears the emblem of a prancing horse, later used by Enzo Ferrari to represent his today famous car company;
- the Theatre Rossini, dedicated to the famous Italian musician, whose father was born in Lugo and who received his first musical education here.