The Museo della battaglia del Senio (Museum of the Battle of the Senio), inaugurated in Alfonsine on 10 April 1981, preserves artefacts and stories related to the significant permanence of the front in Romagna, along the Senio river valley, from December 1944 to April 1945. It represents, for Alfonsine and the towns along the Senio river, the place of Memory.
Great care is taken in the search for effective communication and continuous innovation in didactics, also through the use of new languages and tools to effectively recount the events of World War II today, with the objective of recounting the war to educate for Peace.
Photographs of military and civilian events and of the organisation of the local Resistance are on display, as well as exhibits concerning armaments, military cartography, uniforms, flags and objects converted for civilian use, which, in addition to in-depth panels, provide an insight into the presence in the area of soldiers from the five continents. It also offers interesting focuses on the Jewish brigade, on the contribution of the new Italian army, on in-depth aspects of the peculiar Resistance experience in the plains, on the contribution of women in the Liberation struggle, and pays particular attention to the experience of civilians.
During the visit it is also possible to watch the screening of the 30-minute documentary made with historical footage from the archives of the Imperial War Museum, edited at Cinecittà and entitled “La Battaglia del Senio” (The Battle of the Senio), containing footage shot by British cameramen in Romagna during the months of the Liberation.
Thanks to the use of new technologies, an immersive language created especially for schoolchildren completes the exhibition. The emotional chamber ‘the Shelter’ reconstructs the interior of an air raid shelter, allowing the visitor to relive the feelings experienced by civilians seeking shelter during the bombing raids. A short-lived but intense and evocative experience, which, through voices and noises, succeeds in conveying the drama of the people who hoped to survive in these makeshift shelters.
A new permanent room has recently been set up, offering a broad and in-depth insight into the condition of civilians during the occupation in the last months of the war. It is a totally immersive space in which the public, thanks to 360-degree audiovisual content, is able to perceive and experience emotions and suggestions that during the visit can only be known through objects and narrative references. The room highlights how “peasant habits” are intertwined with the hunger, brutality and anguish that war brings to every home, today as then. A tale in medias res, where past, present and future meet and intertwine, in a delicate balance between reality and memory.
The building houses also the Municipal library; since 1997 Alfonsine is the seat of the important historical archive of the Province of Ravenna, named “Istituto storico della Resistenza e dell’Età Contemporanea della Provincia di Ravenna”, which is made of over 120,000 documents, 470 magazines and an historical library with over 5,000 books.
Video about Luoghi e memorie della Resistenza, Antonietta di Carluccio, Dir. Museo Battaglia del Senio
by DELTA 2000 for the project EXCOVER – Experience, Discover & Valorise Hidden Treasure Towns and Sites of Adriatic Area
Useful information
Address: Piazza Resistenza 2 – 48011 Alfonsine (RA)
Phone: 0545 299618
Email: museodelsenio@gmail.com
Web site: https://museodelsenio.it/?lang=en
How to get
Located in one of the main town squares in the town centre, Piazza della Resistenza.
Wide car and bus park. Facilities for disabled.
Timetables informations
See the website
Closing days
August, 25th December, 1st January and 1st May
Price
Admission free
(Updated to 30/01/2024)
