Calderino
Coming from Bologna, as soon as you enter the Monte San Pietro territory, you will find Calderino. Although Calderino is the main town of the territory, the territory was named after a different town, the smaller village of Monte San Pietro. The town hall of Monte San Pietro has been in Calderino since the beginning of the 19th century, when an old building known as “Casona” (big house), part of a farm known as “Torretta” (little tower), was chosen as the official headquarters for the town hall offices.
Actually, we can say that the history of Calderino begins when the other towns of the territory declined. Calderino’s geographical position, at the entrance of the valley of the Lavino torrent, and the few-kilometer distance from Bologna, are two factors that contributed to the town’s very quick growth (about 40% of the Monte San Pietro territory’s population lives in Calderino).
In the front square of the town hall, it is worth a visit to the memorial block called “Luogo della memoria” (the place of memory), inaugurated in April 2003 and created by the sculptor Achille Ghidini.
Amola
From “Ponte Rivabella” (“nice bank” bridge), in the “Piazza della Repubblica” (the republic’s square), begins the way to Amola which, in ancient times, was called “Làmola di Monte”. Amola is a town rich in history and art and is situated 334 meters above sea level. Amola has a very ancient church, first mentioned in the 14th century, and it is dedicated to “Santa Maria Assunta” (Assumption of Saint Mary). The church houses one of the most beautiful and precious jewels of the Bologna artworks: the “Via Crucis” of Mauro Gandolfi (Bologna, 1764-1834). This artwork is a compilation of fourteen oil paintings on canvas that were painted in 1793.
Also among the artworks, there are three other canvasses of Guardassoni, including the “Madonna Assunta in fioriera” (Saint Mary Assumption in flower box), dated 1858, which was blessed by Pope Pio IX. The church also houses a precious pipe organ (1757), made by Pietro Agati. The belfry is no longer the original building, as it was rebuilt in the 1946 to repair the damage that occurred during World War II. However, the church’s architectural style remains the same as the original.
A few meters from the church there is “Cà dei Ghedini” (Ghedini’s house), a fortified house built in the 15th century and modified several times throughout the centuries. In this house, interesting architecture elements can be found, such as “Cariatidi” (columns carved to a woman’s shape) in the Romanic style and an ancient “Mascherone” (sculptured element shaped as a caricatured face).
Monte San Giovanni
Driving southward along Lavino street, 5 Km from Calderino, you will reach Monte San Giovanni, a nice locality surrounded by hillocks, rich woods and precious vineyards. It is worth a visit to its Church “San Giovanni Battista” (San Giovanni the Baptist), that contains several artworks, some of them inherited from a religious building of the 14th century. The most interesting artwork is the organ, one of the most ancient and important organs of the entire Bologna region. The organ still functions, and it is attributed to one member of the Ciprì family (16th – 17th century). The organ is placed above the main entrance, in the “cantoria”. The apse and altar, made of wood and gold, are also extremely interesting.
A few kilometres before entering Monte San Giovanni, beside the village of Venezia, in a scenic landscape of “Calanchi” surrounded by cypresses, is the “Ospedale”, which gets its name from the Italian word “ospitale", or the “place for hospitality”. The Ospedale was used in ancient times by pilgrims and wanderers. It was built in the 16th century, although today it looks slightly different from the original structure.
Badia
Along Lavino street, about 10 kilometres south of Calderino, is “La Badia” (the Abbey), the very ancient “San Fabiano del Lavino” group of buildings mentioned in many documents of the 12th and 13th centuries. The area was probably chosen to be La Badia because it is, more or less, halfway between the “Nonantola” abbey and the “Santa Lucia di Roffeno”, another important building met when travelling toward Tuscany and Rome.
This group of buildings lies along the travelled path of pilgrims as they headed to Rome, and the pilgrims used Badia as a place to sleep. Badia is also a necessary stop when visiting the Benedictine Abbeys in the Bologna region. Badia is a group of buildings, some of them civil (such as the tower) and others religious (such as the church, the monastery, and the cloister), with a typical Romanic style architecture. The construction technique and especially the re-use of ancient ornamental materials, typical of the Middle Age, suggest that the church was built around the 12th or 13th centuries and restored during the 15th century.
These buildings, interesting for their architecture, lack ancient artworks. In the apse, there is an interesting residual of a wall painting from the 15th century, and the “Madonna tra i Santi” (Madonna among the Saints), from the 16th century, can be found painted in the fanlight over the main entrance.
These buildings were recently acquired by the town administration, which intends to use them as museums of the grape vines and chestnuts.
Mongiorgio
Turning right off the road for Badia toward the Samoggia valley, you will come across the small village of Mongiorgio and its castle. Looking beyond the thick vegetation, you will find the main entrance and, above the entrance, the slits that were used to move the lift bridge. The castle, built in the 10th and 11th centuries, is certainly one of the most interesting civil buildings of the area (although damage caused by a long abandonment is apparent). Inside the castle there are the 16th century churches of S. Sigismondo and S. Pietro. Despite their appearance, the crenulated buildings are recent constructions. The quadrangular tower was reduced to ruins after its collapse in 1976. Mongiorgio had particular importance between the 10th and the 16th century and in the 13th century Mongiorgio was administratively independent from the territory of Monte San Pietro.
Montepastore
On the provincial road of “Valle del Lavino” (the Lavino valley), nearly 18 kilometres from the main town, lies Montepastore. At 500-700 meters above sea level, Montepastore is the highest village of the region. You can admire, looking northward, the view of the entire valley of the Lavino torrent, that has its source in Montepastore. You can also view the plain of the Po river and, on clear days, it is also possible to see the Lombardic PreAlps and the hills near Verona (the Colli Euganei). On the west side, the area is surrounded by the “Pradole” (the big meadows), once used as the pasture and, to the south, you will find the long crest of “Spazzavento” (sweeping-wind), that reaches 800 meters in elevation.
I calanchi
In the Venezia territory, there are two other villages: Monte San Giovanni and Pradalbino (about 12 kilometres from the main town, near the border of another town called Crespellano). In this area, you will find the landscapes of the “calanchi”, a particular morphology of the land diffused within the Appennino Emiliano (the low-elevation mountains of the Emilia region). The calanchi are so typical of the Bolognese area that the Italian language has borrowed the term "calanchi" from the Bolognese dialect. The Calanchi were formed from the erosion of the argillaceous hills, carved by the rain and the wind, and the build up of sediment that occurs with the alternations of the rainy and dry periods. The calanchi provides an extreme landscape of high arches and crests with deep crevasses. The vegetation is constituted mainly from herbaceous species that bloom in spring or autumn. The areas of calanchi, rich of upward air currents, are an optimal place for numerous raptor birds to hunt, like the buzzards (“poiana”), which can be easily observed as they fly in the warmest hours of the day (the “albanella”).
Other localities
On the Lavino road, toward Montepastore, you will find Gavignano, a rural village with ancient houses, a church dated as early as the 12th century, and a tower.
In San Chierlo, you can admire the Paleotto tower. This tower, together with the Tower of Guard and the tower of the “Casa Masi” (15th century), were the lookout towers of the Bonzara fortress; only ruins remain on the mountain where the fortress was raised between the 12th and 14th centuries. The village has an optimal climate and fertile lands: its vineyards and wines are very well known.
In the Romanic church of S. Lorenzo in Collina, restored at the end of the 15th century, surrounded by the “lunar” landscape of the calanchi, it is interesting to take a look at the altar painting. In the oratory of the church, once per year, it is possible to admire the “Madonna del Castello di Capramozza” (private property), a coloured wood sculpture of the 13th century. Finally, it is worth mentioning the church of “S. Martino in Casola”, that hosts furnishings and liturgical objects of the 17th and 18th centuries.
Sightseeing