In dialect “Agl’Infunsen”, Alfonsine is a town in the lower part of the romagna region that takes its name from Alfonso Calcagnini, who reclaimed the area for the first urban settlements. Alfonsine became municipality in 1814 during the Napoleonic domination and actively participated in the Garibaldine and Risorgimento campaigns, as well as the Red Week in 1914. Then the town was severely damaged by the Second World War: it was at the front from December 1944 until April 1945 when it was finally freed by the Cremona fighting group. At the end of the war the City counted many victims and a good part of the old town completely demolished: one of the few surviving buildings of the time was the Oratory of San Vincenzo Ferrari. Alfonsine was rebuilt to the left of the river Senio where, since the 70s, it has considerably developed. A few kilometres from the city centre, within the Regional Park of the Po, there is the Special Nature Reserve, established in 1990 thanks to three oases of considerable floristic and vegetal interest, such as hygrophilous woods with white willow, the “Stagno della Fornace Violani” and the grove of the three canals.

Garden of the Council Library

Founded in 1871 by Professor Sebastiano Battaglia with the name of “Biblioteca Comunale per il Popolo”, only in 1991 took its name from the antiquarian bookseller Pino Orioli. Located in the cultural center of Alfonsine in Piazza della Resistenza, the library is connected to the National Library Service within the Library Network of Romagna and San Marino.

Address

Garden of the Council Library: Piazza della Resistenza, 2 – 48011 Alfonsine (Ra)

Contact

Alfonsine City hall – cultural office: Ph. +39 0544 866637

Public Library Orioli: Ph. +39 0544 866675 – 74