The Reno Valley

Alongside the river Reno, from the Apennines’ slopes all the way down until Bologna, this trail winds through the natural, architectural, historic and artistic beauties that make the Bolognese mountains so special.

Starting from the Chiusa di Casalecchio di Reno (Lock of Casalecchio), Europe’s oldest waterworks, still functioning today, the path leads to Marzabotto and the National Etruscan Museum Pompeo Aria, located close to the archaeological site of the ancient city of Kainua. A little further North is where the Pieve di San Lorenzo di Panico stands, a parish church considered one of the most fascinating Romanesque buildings of the Bolognese Apennines.

The second stage is Monte Sole historical park, a protected natural reserve conceived for keeping alive the memory of the Monte Sole massacre, a 1944 crime war consisting in the mass murder of at least 770 civilians by Nazi troops.

Vergato is your next stage, a small town where you can admire the stained-glass windows inside the Palazzo dei Capitani di Montagna, the town hall, work of the painter Luigi Ontani, who also donated a fountain to the city, nowadays bearing his name.