23. Casalborsetti – Ravenna

The stage will lead from the Adriatic Sea to Ravenna. It is distinguished by crossing the pine forest of San Vitale: for kilometers you will walk on dirt tracks immersed in a splendid and silent forest; then you will find the Mausoleum of Theodoric. No inhabited center on the stage: you need to bring water and food. Those who have stopped in Mandriole can avoid the coast and cross the beautiful Valle della Canna and the next pine forest, following the variant.

Along the canal, take Via Nino Bonnet. After passing the Church of San Lorenzo you enter the pine forest which is crossed on an internal road with the beach on the left; there are several campsites and thus we arrive at the Lamone river. After crossing the bridge, take the cycle path along the right bank of the river for several kilometres. Cross the SP 112, and you arrive at a dirt road where you meet the “Variante Trafila Garibaldina”. Having crossed the footbridge, you enter the pine forest of San Vitale, so called because it was formerly owned by the Benedictine monks of San Vitale of Ravenna. The landscape is fascinating in its wildness, cared for by man just enough to allow its enjoyment. After a while there is a first clearing, where the monks built the first house (“old house”) complete with a fountain; then you cross a canal. After a while there is a large clearing where it is easy to meet free horses. Cross this, and a canal: on the right a large plant to regulate the water (Via Mambelli cart track). Next is the “Benedictine threshing floor of Ca’ Nova”, a large structure that can be visited, where the monks worked medicinal herbs and especially pine nuts. Walking here is like walking in an “earthly paradise”. After a few kilometers we find another large canal. Bypassing another water regulation system, you leave the pine forest. Take the underpass of a link road of the Via Romea (Via Canale Magni); towards Via Romea Nord, cross the canal and take the parking street that runs alongside the establishments of the Le Bassette Shopping Centre. You always walk on the edge of the parking areas of the various establishments. After passing several roundabouts and the railway, you finally find yourself in the Teodorico Park with its original and beautiful Mausoleum of Theodoric. Leaving the Mausoleum area and passing the railway, you are at Rocca Brancaleone. Then you find the Basilica of San Giovanni, near the station and on the right; then you finally meet the historic center of Ravenna, with very important monuments: Via Armando Diaz, Piazza del Popolo, Via IV Novembre, Via Camillo Benso di Cavour, Basilica San Vitale.