If the most satisfying thing for anyone giving a guided tour is speaking to an enthusiastic and curious listener, then Diego Saglia felt he royally hit the jackpot when he metQueen Camillain Ravenna.
The queen, who was in the northern Italian city with King Charles during a state visit to the country in early April, was so enamoured of her visit to a museum dedicated to the British poet and satirist Lord Byron that she kept her husband waiting in the courtyard. She lingered over Byron’s original manuscripts, locks of his curly hair and the love letters he wrote to Countess Teresa Guiccioli.
The king paid an impromptu visit to the museum,which opened in November, when he went to collect the queen after his own personal tour of the city’s Basilica of San Vitale, known for its Byzantine mosaics dating from the sixth century.
“Darling, come and meet these people,” the queen beckoned to Charles, who duly greeted the staff and posed for selfies while praising the museum, which is located in the residence where the poet completedDon Juan and The Prophecy of Dante during his stay in 1819-21.
“It was an electrifying moment,” said Saglia, an English literature professor at the University of Parma and a member of the museum’s scientific committee. “We had not long been open, and then these exceptional visitors arrived. Camilla was great and then the king showing up was an incredible surprise. He couldn’t stop talking about the beauty of the mosaics, but Camilla kept telling him: ‘But no, I’ve found interesting stuff here.’”
The royal couple’s obvious appreciation of Ravenna, an elegant city in Emilia-Romagna brimming with art and culture, and where the poet Dante Alighieri is buried, has left its mark.
Not only did their fleeting trip attract hundreds of union jack-waving visitors from beyond the city, but it has since prompted a significant increase in tourists, particularly from the UK.
Saglia said the city was now packed, especially during the weekend.
But as Rome, Florence and Venice grapple with overtourism, people in Ravenna, which has thus far remained off the well-trodden path, have welcomed the royal influence on tourism, and were proud that the city was the only one inItalythe couple visited after the capital.
“We are very happy because obviously the visit provided an important international showcase,” said Maria Grazia Marini, the director of tourism services at Ravenna’s city council. “The people of Ravenna are very proud of their heritage, so the fact that they came was truly a source of pride. The city dressed up for the party and many people were involved.”
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Giacomo Costantini, Ravenna’s tourism councillor, said visitor numbers were up by 16% in April compared with the same month in 2024, with most coming from England.
While the launch this year of British Airways flights to Federico Fellini airport in nearby Rimini had helped, Costantini put the increase down to the “beautiful bond of love between Ravenna and England”.
“We have a shared passion for poets and writers, whether it be Dante or Shakespeare,” he said. “This connection was then crowned by the opening of the Byron museum.”
All the hotels are fully booked this weekend for the start of the Ravenna festival, which includes concerts directed by the Italian conductor Riccardo Muti, who lives in the city.
Fabio Ricci, a spokesperson for the Bryon museum and the festival, had no doubt the royals would put Ravenna in the spotlight.
“Ravenna is a city that combines, within a few kilometres, extraordinary art, high-quality entertainment and beautiful nature, including pine forests and the sea,” he said. “On top of that, you have good food. What more do you want from life?”