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Going walking in the pine forests of Ravenna has now become almost a necessity for me; certainly a pleasant habit. I also enjoy it because I often encounter animals in the wild.
Since I was a child I have always loved to walk. With my dog Tullio I used to take long walks both by the sea and in the pine forest in Cervia where I lived with my parents. But at that time it was not easy to spot animals.
Literary Quotes
The Classe Pine Forest is not a trip for me; I could walk there. But for 14 years I hadn’t even considered it. It is a place rich in history, where at the same time you can really immerse yourself in nature, despite being very close to civilization.
During the Covid period it was my saving grace, and I practically gave all the pinecones a thou. When I go there I plan my trips or do my rankings, like: the city where I slept for the most days; the country with the most airports I’ve been to; the bathroom where I pooped the most times.
I wonder if Dante Alighieri who is documented walked here during his exile was also thinking about the same things. He probably mentions the pine forest in the Divine Comedy: where apparently his ghost is still there today.
While Boccaccio set one of the novellas of the Decameron there, the one starring Nastagio degli Onesti. The latter was in love but not reciprocated by another maiden of his from Ravenna. To convince her, he organized a banquet for her and her family in the pine forest where he had discovered that an infernal hunt was taking place, that is, the pursuit by a horseman and his dogs of a woman, who is caught and mauled every Friday at 12 noon.
It was inspired precisely by Dante’s inferno, as if pursuer and pursued never rest. This novella was later taken up by Sandro Botticelli in a series of famous paintings.
Historical events
Important events that led to the liberation of Ravenna by partisans together with the Allies during World War II took place in the Classe and San Vitale pine forests north of Ravenna.
This link discusses how the Allies passed through the nearby basilica before liberating Ravenna. In particular the amusing anecdote that the priest who got the German soldiers on guard drunk was the protagonist.
Domestic flamingos in the pine forests of Ravenna
Excluding the main avenues(the famous highway of mountain bikers) Ravenna’s pine forests are a magical place for those who want to isolate themselves a bit from humanity.
Once, before I was overtaken by a snake of rotated humans, a guy shouted in my ears beware, there is a middle-aged man!
One can walk for hours and encounter only quadrupeds, or very rarely humans on horseback.
In the Classe pine forest there are plenty of both resident and migratory birds here, including storks, many ducks, and pink flamingos.
Live and dead deer in pine forests of Ravenna
Once I saw a fox, squirrels are often seen, and it is easy to see tracks of wild boar. Of these I happened to find a couple of them within a few meters. They were in the brush and I could smell them, first from grunts and then from seeing them.
Those who are easily seen are deer, very many of them. Some say too many, and there has been talk for years about finding a way to reduce or move them. They would be harmful and dangerous as they go foraging in adjacent fields and cross roads. Especially in the early hours of the morning and if you walk around alone or in a few, it is easy to find them in front of you or see them running with their elegance, seemingly dancing.
Below is the video from my you tube channel, in which I saw some of them swimming in the river and trying to climb up the banks. Music by WODEVI.
Actually it is good that they are always on edge since apart from men they have to fear the most fearsome predator, the wolf! When I wrote this there were two families, and the progenitor is called Guinevere.
She-wolf Geneva
This was a young she-wolf from the Marche found run over and brought to the wild animal rescue center present near Mount Adonis in the Bolognese Apennines. They also care for and keep animals from zoos and circuses at this center, and I talk about them in the article on the Way of the Gods that passes us by.
After they got Geneva back on her feet, they let her loose in those parts, but she, after a good run, ended up in the Classe pine forest where in a short time someone came to visit her and they started a family. All of this is documented by the satellite signal collar they applied to her. The website link has some great videos of when they release wolves.
Apparently it is almost impossible to come across a wolf, especially in a forest (a more appropriate term because there are more than just pine trees) that is not too extensive like this one, however, I often see remnants of banquets by Guinevere or her wolf cubs. I also once came across a recently killed fallow deer that had been dragged into the bush when I returned, I guess to be more leisurely eaten for dinner.
The silly version
The romantic and mostly silly version of this story is that she (Guinevere) had heard me when I had passed there when I did the Way of the Gods, and then had come to live near me. We actually missed each other by only a few months; however, it is true that she is one of the mammals I was closest to (although I never saw her) during the covid period when I went to the pine forest every day and saw no humans.
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