The Tricolore or Italian Tricolour Flag first flapped on 7^th January 1797.

Where? Right here, in the Tricolour Hall in Reggio Emilia.

For a city tired to be ruled by the Este Family, the young Napoleon and France represented shared ideals of Freedom, Equality and Fraternity.

Chased away the Este Duke, the local representatives gathered together with those of Modena, Bologna and Ferrara in a large hall where the flag of the Cispadan Republic was presented for the first time.

A kind of tribute to the French flag where blue gave way to green.

If you enter that place today, the so-called Sala del Tricolore (Tricolour Hall), you can still breathe the same atmosphere: full of energy, pride and passion for freedom

If they were to shoot the Italian version of ‘Night at the Museum’, this would be the appropriate venue.  Rhinos, giraffes, lions, stuffed bears seem to be just waiting for the museum doors to be closed to come to life again.

The original nucleus of the Civic Museums of Reggio Emilia began, in fact, with the purchase of Lazzaro Spallanzani's naturalistic collection and expanded following different lines: historical, scientific, and artistic.

There is so much to see, including nineteenth-century and modern lay-outs, all the way to interactive spaces.

Two suggestions: let yourself be amazed by the barbaric Roman treasure and take your time to admire the section dedicated to the Reggio Emilia photographer Luigi Ghirri. Themes that are chronologically distant but representative of the history of Reggio Emilia.