A route through Romagna(*) between Ravenna and Cesena passing through the zone of Classe and a pineta [pine forest] with the same name. Ravenna today is a provincial city but at its height it had an important past: in ancient Roman times it was an aquatic city crossed by canals and connected by small bridges, the way Venice was to become; because of this characteristic, it was one of the main naval bases of the Roman army; and up to 476 AD it was the last capital of the Western Roman Empire; during the middle ages it was also the final residence of Dante Alighieri, who died here in 1321. During the fifteenth century it was annexed to the Venetian Republic, and then in 1510 after the War of the League of Cambrai it passed to the Papal states.

Point of departure is the train station at Ravenna reachable by Diretto(*) trains from Ferrara, Bologna and Rimini. Upon leaving the station we head right until we reach the Rocca [fortress] di Brancaleone, the largest fortress in Ravenna, now a public park. At the far end we turn right and crossing over the railroad tracks we can visit the Mausoleum of Theodoric and the wharf along the final section of waterway remaining of the ancient Roman port. (this side trip is not shown in the GPS trace.)

Turning left and following the GPS trace we cut through the historic center of Ravenna, Piazza del Popolo, the tomb of Dante, as far as the church of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo on Via Roma. Following this street which becomes Via Romea we soon find on the left a bike path which runs to Classe where there is one of the most famous of the Ravenna monuments, the church of Sant'Apollinare in Classe.

Continuing along Via Romea we pass under a connector road and immediately after we turn left; and after a street level crossing we will find on the right the bike path to Cervia. This runs for a short distance through the fields, then enters the Pineta [pine forest] di Classe, a large wooded area south of Ravenna.

In this route we use only the first segment of the bike path. When we come to Fosso [channel] Ghiaia, we take the road to the right that runs along the channel, cross the railroad tracks and continue until we reach Via Romea again, but cross it and continue on a straightaway on a narrow road with little traffic until we reach Via Dismano, an old alignment of Via Romea, and from here turn left.

From this point on it is just a long straight shot of about 20 km/12 miles to Cesena, crossing through small villages and large agricultural fields; the road has little traffic, at least on Saturday, when I tried it, but it is narrow and without bike lanes along the sides, therefore requiring a certain degree of caution, especially since the long straight road encourages motorists to speed.

At the end we come to Pievesantina, a suburb of Cesena, with large industrial buildings; we come to the rotary and take the road once again named Via Romea as far as the Agricultural Institute of Cesena; here we come to another rotary where we take Via Savio, where we will find a bike path that runs along the Institute towards the center of Cesena and the train station. I point out the Ponte Vecchio [old bridge] over the river Savio of Roman origin and the Rocca [fortress] Malatestiana which dominates the city from the top of a hill.

At Cesena there is a train station on the Bologna-Ancona line.