The Statue of Luigi Carlo Farini
The monument located on the roundabout near the train station is dedicated to an important protagonist of italian political history: Luigi Carlo Farini.
Statue of Luigi Carlo Farini, on the roundabout facing Ravenna's train station.
Life
Luigi Carlo Farini (born 1812, died 1866), native of Russi, graduated in medicine in Bologna, where he was invoved with politics since youth. He was eventually forced to the exile after taking part in the insurrection in Savigno in 1843 against Pope Gregory XVI. After receiving the amnesty from Pius IX he returned to his homeland and actively engaged in politics.
He would become dicator of Emilia, and took part in the annexation of the region by the Kingdom of Italy. He also had an important role in the decision by the new unitary government of connecting Ravenna to the national railway network.
Building the statue
When Farini died in August 1866, a committee created in order to decide how to commemorate his memory launched a public subscription for the construction of a monument.
After entrusting the assignment to sculptor Enrico Pazzi, the same committee suggested to the city administration the placement of the statue in the square in front of the train station. The municipality endorsed the request, and tasked Romolo Conti with an adequate rearrangement of the area in view of the inauguration.
For this purpose, the city chief engineer set up an elaborate lighting system and built two pavillons; one for the orchestra and one which would have served as the official gallery.
The event was carried on with several commemorations and performances, which reached their climax when the sky over the train station square was lit with fireworks. At the end of the celebration, the attendants were gifted with several commemorative medals, engraved by Luigi Gori following a draft by Enrico Pazzi.
The monument of Luigi Carlo Farini stood in the square before the train station until the night of 4 September 1944, when an Allied bombing on the station also destroyed the statue built by Pazzi.
In 1995, fifties years after the destruction of the statue of Farini, the Committee for the restoration of monuments of the Italian unification charged Ravennate sculptor Giannantonio Bucci with the task of building the monument currently standing in front of the train station, based on the original model still held in the Farini family tomb.
Plaque of the statue of Luigi Carlo Farini
The dictator of Emilia is portrayed while sitting on a broad and low chair, with his shoulder turned towards the incoming travelers.
