Reggio Emilia lies 58 meters above sea level on the plain which stretches south of the Po and is 60 km from Bologna.Among the interesting historic buildings are the Cathedral (founded in the 9th century and rebuilt between the 13th and 14th centuries), the church of S. Prospero (from the 10th century and completely rebuilt in the 16th ), the Madonna della Ghiara (end of the 16th century), the Town Hall (15th century). Apart from several buildings from the 18th and 19th centuries (Municipal Theatre from 1857) just nearby is the Mauriziano, a 16th century villa where Ariosto lived.