Faenza is a city with Roman origins which is crossed by the Via Emilia. Whilst only a few important architectural remains bear witness to the medieval period, such as in S. Ippolito and the churches of S. Maria Foris Portam and the Commenda, the same cannot be said of what was one of Faenza's most dazzling periods, thanks to the noble Manfredi family. Indeed, the rebuilding of the Cathedral in 1474 saw the start of a blossoming era linked to Tuscan Renaissance art. Artists such as Giuliano and Benedetto da Maiano, Donatello, the Della Robbias, Biagio d'Antonio da Firenze and others moved to Faenza to work. The great architectural works which define Faenza's present day appearance are however from the Baroque period, namely the structure of the two main piazzas with the fountain, the clock tower, the loggias and porticoed wings of the Palazzo del Comune (City Hall) and the Palazzo del Podestà. Almost all the convent churches were later reconstructed with elegant late-Baroque lines, along with a number of palazzos of the nobility. The end of the XVIII century and the first thirty years of the following century saw the flourishing of the Neo-classical style, with outstanding artistic works by Giuseppe Pistocchi, Giovanni Antonio Antolini, Felice Giani, Gaetano Bertolani, Gianbattista and Francesco Ballanti Graziani, Antonio Trentanove and Pietro Tomba. Amongst the many works, palazzo Milzetti brilliantly crowns Romagna's Neo-classical civilisation both from an architectural and decorative point of view.

Faenza, the city of ceramics
Faenza is able to boast a tradition in ceramics that dates back many centuries, and which even today continues to hold an important place amongst the city's crafts and industry. Its geographical location between the regions of Padania and Tuscany has turned it into a meeting point of the cultures as well as one of the leading centres for ceramics since Medieval times.
The fame of Faenza's products is such that Majolica is known the world over with the French name of Faience.