The experience will be available from Friday 27 May 2022
www.youarematilde.it
You Are Matilde di Canossa, created with the patronage of the Municipality of Canossa, is a new guided tour combining Virtual Reality and live experience, inviting visitors to personally immerse themselves in the story of Matilde di Canossa, the most ancient modern woman, while also discovering places rich in history and tradition such as the Terre di Canossa and the Matildine fortifications of the Val d’Enza. A technological and immersive project with a cultural and touristic dimension, aimed at a broad audience: an experience that blends history, emotion, and journeys through time and space.
Following the success of You Are Leo, the Virtual Tour dedicated to Leonardo da Vinci which in 2019 engaged more than 40,000 visitors in Milan, Way Experience – the media company among Italy’s leaders in Virtual Reality projects in the cultural tourism sector – presents, from 27 May 2022, a new captivating project between real and virtual, dedicated to another great figure of Italian medieval history: Matilde di Canossa.
Why Matilde?
“You Are Matilde di Canossa” is set in an era of important cultural and social changes, aimed at promoting genuine gender equality and highlighting the stories of women who changed the course of history.
Matilde di Canossa is the first example in History of a “woman of power”. She was a powerful feudal lady who came to dominate all Italian territories north of the Papal State. Under her command, the Canossa domain reached its greatest extent.
In a difficult era characterised by continuous wars, battles and intrigues, Matilde demonstrated an innate aptitude for command. During the war against Emperor Henry IV, the Grand Countess is said to have personally participated in the battle alongside a handful of chosen, loyal warriors. This gives rise to the image of Matilde the warrior, who took lessons in military strategy and command from Godfrey (her stepfather), who knew how to ride and was capable of wielding weapons.
The troubled biographical story of the Countess goes far beyond the stereotype of a woman of power: the figure of Matilde is characterised by a personality destined to challenge conventions, prejudices and to change the course of History.
The charisma of a woman who, at the heart of the Middle Ages, emblematically embodied the feminine and, in our eyes, made her the most ancient modern woman. The voice of this most ancient modern woman is interpreted by Barbara Alberti, Italian writer, screenwriter, playwright, journalist, commentator, television personality, actress and radio presenter.
Total duration of approximately 2 hours and 30 minutes.
The route
Through Virtual Reality, visitors will be able to step into Matilde’s shoes and experience some of the crucial moments in her life.
The Castle of Canossa, in the Apennine mountains of Reggio Emilia, is the physical, real location from which Way departed, creating a virtual layer that allows visitors to immerse themselves in its history and landscapes through a route that includes two differentiated tours: for individual participants at Canossa, and for organised groups across the Val d’Enza territory.
Individual participants will be accompanied by a real guide on a tour that involves a walk around the Castle of Canossa with 4 virtual stops. All participants will be equipped with a Virtual Reality headset and at certain points will be invited to put on the headset to live immersive experiences in the 11th century and to enjoy the story told by Matilde herself about her time. The tour will have a total duration of approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes.
For groups, the tour will instead travel across the Val d’Enza territory, recounting its strategic importance and history through the figure of Matilde di Canossa at 2 physical stops (Rossenella Tower and Castle of Canossa) and 5 virtual stops. The tour will have a total duration of approximately 2 hours and 30 minutes.
The stops
The first stop of the VR tour brings the visitor into direct contact with Matilde, recounting her personality and her most intimate side. In this first scene, she herself – through the voice of Barbara Alberti – will recount her life, her childhood, the death of her father and siblings, her loneliness in Germany, and her relationship with her cousin Henry IV.
The second scene is a journey through time and space: returning to Matilde’s era to discover the Lands of the Canossas, their castles and the battles she herself fought in that territory, in particular the Battle of the Fog.
In the third stop, participants, placed in the shoes of the protagonist, personally experience the historical episode of Henry IV’s penance and humiliation before Pope Gregory VII. The fourth piece of content presents a broader virtual tour of the Castle of Canossa and its evolution over time, through three 3D reconstructions.
Groups will be able to enjoy a fifth exclusive piece of content: a 360° virtual journey to discover the most evocative Matildine sites of the Val d’Enza.
The reconstructions of the territory and the Castle were made possible thanks to the meticulous philological research of the Italian Institute of Castles – Emilia Romagna section. We also thank Donatella Jager Bedogni for her invaluable support of the scientific and historical content of the narrative.
The territory
The Matildine Lands, for those unfamiliar with the Reggio area, represent a motorway exit that blends in with the countless others on the A1. Yet behind this name lies an entire world made of stories and people who, from the time of the great ladies right up to today’s e-bikes, represent the true cradle of Reggio’s identity. Even to describe all the treasures hidden here, a whole lifetime would not be enough, as the list of discoveries to be made is as long as the history that has passed through. Canossa and the whole province more generally preserve memories of all the main historical periods, from the fossils that abound in the badlands to the Roman era, from Matilde’s Canossa to the Este Reggio, from the partisan uprisings to Calatrava’s bridges. History in Reggio flows slowly like the waters of the Crostolo, and precisely because of this natural flow it has been easier here than elsewhere to see innovation and tradition coexist, manifested both in the historical-natural heritage and in the gastronomic one. Let us not forget that while Reggio was the birthplace of the Italian Tricolour – a source of provincial and national pride – it also gave birth to Erbazzone and Parmigiano Reggiano, saw the first bottle of Spergola and Lambrusco uncorked, and had the first plate of cappelletti served. The tables of Reggio are as rich in delicacies as its hills are in castles and badlands, and discovering Reggio means not only taking a walk on the Pietra di Bismantova or in the Mediopadana station, but also sitting down in a traditional inn and preparing to loosen your belt. If geographical boundaries are clearly distinguishable on a map, they never correspond to the true vastness of the world they delimit, and precisely for this reason, taking the fortress of Canossa as a starting point, it is possible to discover and reveal the entire province of Reggio, uncovering all the secrets it hides, all the activities that take place here, and all the people who have something that makes them unique – who, fortunately (or thanks to the Lambrusco), are never in short supply in Reggio!
