"Il Cardello", Casa di Oriani, in the hills of Casola Valsenio (Ravenna) is the building where writer Alfredo Oriani (1852-1909) spent most of his life and wrote all his works. It is not known when it was built, however it was once the guesthouse of the Benedictine Abbey of Valsenio whose existence was first documented in 1126. Il Cardello is mentioned for the first time in a document dated 1419. After various events, it was purchased in 1855 by Luigi Oriani, father of Alfredo. The Oriani family moved there permanently in 1866 and owned it until 1978, when Luigia Pifferi Oriani, widow of Alfredo's only son, bequeathed it to the "Casa di Oriani" institution with all the surrounding land.
The current layout of the building dates to restoration work carried out in 1926; inspired by the neo-Romanesque taste in vogue in the early years of the Fascist regime, it failed to safeguard the original architecture. The interior of 'Il Cardello' is instead a rare and splendid example of a 19th-20th century noble residence in Romagna and in this respect can be considered a proper museum. Two small rooms were fully respected in the restoration of 1926: Oriani's bedroom, with the bed he died in on 18 October 1909, and the study with approximately 600 books from his private library. Near the building, the vast monumental area that houses the tomb of Alfredo Oriani was built in the years 1923-1924, based on a design by the architect Arata. The coats of arms on the mausoleum date to 1934, a tribute from cities in Italy to the writer’s memory. The burial area outside holds the graves of Oriani's father, son and daughter-in-law.
Il Cardello is surrounded by a vast, verdant park, with almost 30 thousand plants, declared an "area of notable public interest" by the Ministry for Cultural and Environmental Heritage (Ministerial Decree 16 June 1975).
Today it is possible to visit the house museum; the Pifferi room (in the Cardello complex) may be rented for private events.
Emilia-Romagna Film Commission
Viale Aldo Moro 38 — 40127 Bologna
Phone: +39 051 5278753
Email: filmcom@regione.emilia-romagna.it
