Cervia Salt Pans

The Cervia pans are the northernmost in Italy and were worked for the papal states, which built the town around a fortified warehouse to control the trade. The salt is called sale dolce, sweet salt, because the harvesting method takes the crystals before the more bitter magnesium and potassium salts precipitate, giving a cleaner taste; it holds a Slow Food presidium. Most of the basin is now a single industrial pan, but the Camillone pan is still worked by hand in the traditional way by volunteers, and is harvested through the summer. Flamingos, avocets and stilts feed in the shallow water.

What you actually see

• The Camillone pan - the last basin still harvested by hand.
• The sweet salt - crystals taken before the bitter minerals form.
• The flamingos - waders and flamingos feeding in the shallow basins.
• The salt warehouse - the papal-era store the town was built around.

When to go

April to October; hand harvesting at Camillone runs through summer and can be watched. Birds are best in spring and autumn. Boat and walking tours are seasonal.

Honest expectations

Access is by booked tour on set days, not free wandering. The pans are exposed with no shade and can be very hot. Mosquitoes are present at dusk.

Nearby

Ravenna lies north; the Romagna beach resorts are alongside.