Mulino Pizzardi

The Mill of Bentivoglio was built in mid-1300's on the riverside of Navile canal, in the locality called Ponte Poledrano.

In the second half of 15th century the Mill becomes property of the lord of Bologna, Giovanni II Bentivoglio, as a confirmation that at the time the milling sector was the cornerstone of the Bolognese plain economy. In 1817 the Pizzardi family acquired the Mill, together with the vast complex of buildings and shops rised up year after year between the two branches of the Navile canal. After alternating periods of economic prosperity and stagnation, the last owner of the Mill, the marquise Carlo Alberto, decided to broaden and modernize the site, with the installation of new machinery for the processing of the cereals coming from his large rural property. Between 1930 and 1960 the mill was rented out, until it was definitely closed in the early '70s.

The complex remains one of the symbols of Bentivoglio and a masterpiece of industrial archaeology of the Bolognese area.

Photo credits: Angelo Riberti