HISTORICAL, CULTURAL AND LANDSCAPE DATA ABOUT THE CONTEXT
 

The centuriation of the territory of Cesena appears very ancient as it is shown by its orientation, which is different from the most recent one, taking its origin at the Ronco from where it moves to the west and using as a generating axis the Via Emilia. By the way it is also one of the best preserved evidences of the systems aimed at turning territories into farm-lands and land registration practised by the Romans. According to the opinions of some authoritative personages it was created before the beginning of the Second Punic War, during Caius Flaminius’ consulship, to which the annexation to the Roman State of the geographical area situated to the south of Rimini (until that time belonging to the Gauls) is attributed.

This wide territory is also characterised by the presence of three streets of Roman age. The Via Dismano (medieval toponym, but having a more ancient origin), to the west, allowed the direct connection between Ravenna and the Apennine, through Cesena. The Via Cervese, probably promoted by Popilius Lenas, starting at the Cesena, obliquely to the centuriation, permitted to reach rapidly the coast and the salt-works. The Via del Confine, delimiting Cesena centuriation to the north-east between Villalta and Pisignano, represented an internal axis connecting Rimini to Ferrara and the Venetian territories.

The ager centuriatus was strewn with “rustic” buildings and characterised by a strong agricultural inclination, with specialised viticultural and wine productions, as mentioned by Pliny, survived until the Late Empire. It also housed important factories for the production of bricks such as the kiln of Via Assano and the large kilns of Ronta, still under investigation. The art of cooking and producing bricks, which seems to characterise the whole area of Romagna, especially Cesena, has been emphasized since a long time, including the mention of the well-known brick from Cesena with an incision (realised before cooking) praising “the good kilnmen” Lucius Numisius e Caius Comicius.

After the Roman period, the age corresponding to the domination of the Malatesta marked most deeply the urban development of the town, starting from the last decades of the XIV century. The rocca (fortress) and the new cathedral are built in this period, which culminated in the creation of the Malatesta Library by Malatesta Novello around the mid-XVI century. The library contains a rich collection of books, including manuscripts, illuminated codices, incunabula and cinquecentine (press edition of 16th century), and it constitutes the only survived example of a library with three aisles. The original furnishing of the XVI cent. along with its whole property appear still intact.