7 Best Sights in Emilia–Romagna, Italy

Locals and visitors flock to this fruit, vegetable, meat, and fish market with good reason. Ingredients are of the finest and of the freshest, and visually the place is a glorious sight to behold. It's been around in this current incarnation since 1931, and it's pretty easy to see why.

In Classe, a short distance outside Ravenna, this museum dazzlingly illustrates the history of Ravenna and its environs from the pre-Roman era to the Lombard conquest in AD 751. The museum occupies a refurbished sugar refinery, and with the help of multimedia presentations and panels in Italian and English, it chronicles the Roman, Ostrogoth, and Byzantine periods. Displays include bronze statuettes, stone sculptures, glassware, and mosaic fragments. A separate room summarizes the building's more recent history. It's an easy walk from Sant'Apollinare in Classe.  To get here from Ravenna, take Bus No. 4 from the station or the local train to Classe, or use the cycle path from the city center.

Two landmark medieval towers, mentioned by Dante in The Inferno, stand side by side in the compact Piazza di Porta Ravegnana. Once, every family of importance had a tower as a symbol of prestige and power (and as a potential fortress). Now only 24 remain out of nearly 100 that once presided over the city. Torre Garisenda (late 11th century), which tilts 4 degrees (Pisa's leans 3.9), was shortened to 157 feet in the 1300s. Torre degli Asinelli (1119) is 318 feet tall and leans 7½ feet; both towers and the piazza are currently closed to visitors while the tottering Torre Garisenda is being carefully monitored.

The trademark crumbly cheese is the focus of this museum, which is part of the collective known as Musei del Cibo whose goal is to showcase the region's most famous foods. There's a video that demonstrates the process of making Parmigiano-Reggiano and exhibits that explore the history of the cheese. Tastings are also offered, and cheese is available to purchase.

Part of the collective known as Musei del Cibo, which works to showcase the region's most famous foods, this museum offers an in-depth look at Italy's most famous cured pork product. It offers tastings, a bit of history on prosciutto, and a tour through the process of making it. A gift shop ensures that you can take some of this marvelous product home.

The impressive cobblestone piazza scene contains the cathedral and the Battistero, plus the Palazzo del Vescovado (Bishop's Palace). Behind the Duomo is the Baroque church of San Giovanni Evangelista.

This piazza is the heart of Parma, where people gather to pass the time of day, start their passeggiata (constitutional), or simply hang out; the square and nearby Piazza del Duomo make up one of the loveliest historic centers in Italy. Strada Cavour, leading off the piazza, is Parma's prime shopping street. It's also crammed with wine bars teeming with locals, so it's a perfect place to stop for a snack or light lunch or a drink.