Sasso Marconi

Sasso Marconi (Emilian: Al Sâs) is a town and comune in the Metropolitan City of Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy. It lies in the lower valley of the Reno, about 17 kilometres (11 mi) south-southwest of Bologna, at the northern edge of the Bolognese Apennines. The municipality is closely associated with Guglielmo Marconi, the Italian inventor and pioneer of wireless telegraphy. Marconi carried out his early wireless experiments at Villa Griffone, the family residence at Pontecchio Marconi, now part of the Marconi Museum and Mausoleum complex. Beyond its Marconi heritage, Sasso Marconi is notable for its position at the threshold between Bologna and the Apennines, for the Roman aqueduct of the Setta, for historic complexes such as Palazzo de' Rossi and Colle Ameno, and for the sandstone landscape of the Contrafforte Pliocenico. Sasso Marconi occupies a hilly territory immediately south of Bologna, where the Reno valley begins to enter the Apennines. The municipal area extends across the lower Reno valley, the lower Setta valley and part of the Lavino basin. Its position has historically made it one of the principal southern approaches from Bologna toward the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines. The main settlements are arranged partly along the historic Porrettana road and the Porrettana railway. The municipality is divided into the five administrative fractions of Capoluogo, Borgonuovo-Pontecchio, Fontana, Badolo-Battedizzo and Tignano-Roma. Other localities in the municipal territory include Pontecchio Marconi, Borgonuovo, Badolo, Battedizzo, Iano, Lagune, Rasiglio, Scopeto, Vizzano, Pieve del Pino, Tignano, Montechiaro and San Lorenzo. The municipal territory covers 96.45 square kilometres (37.24 sq mi). The town hall stands at an altitude of about 128 metres (420 ft) above sea level, while the surrounding territory ranges from the Reno valley floor to the nearby hills. The territory of Sasso Marconi has archaeological evidence from the Etruscan and Roman periods. In 1969 two Etruscan tombs were discovered near the old Porrettana road in Sasso Marconi. The finds, published in Studi Etruschi, included grave goods dating mainly to the late 5th century BC and showed connections with the Etruscan centre of Kainua at nearby Marzabotto, further south in the Reno valley. The most important Roman work connected with the area is the Roman aqueduct of the Setta. The aqueduct probably dates to the Augustan period and was designed to bring water from the Setta valley to Bologna through an underground tunnel. Its intake was located along the right bank of the Setta, shortly before the confluence with the Reno. After centuries of disuse, the aqueduct was rediscovered in the eighteenth century and reactivated in the nineteenth century by the Municipality of Bologna. It remains one of the most important ancient hydraulic works in the Bolognese area. The area developed along routes linking Bologna with the Reno valley and the Apennines. In the late Middle Ages and early modern period, noble residences, rural settlements, religious sites and productive estates appeared along the valley. One of the most important historic complexes is Palazzo de' Rossi, in Pontecchio Marconi. The palace, in late Bolognese Gothic style, was begun in 1482 by Bartolomeo Rossi, a humanist and member of a prominent Bolognese banking family. The complex included both an aristocratic residence and a village connected with agricultural and craft activities. In the eighteenth century, the complex of Colle Ameno was developed by the Enlightenment nobleman Filippo Carlo Ghisilieri. It became a rural and productive settlement with a villa, workshops, a private theatre, a hospital, a majolica factory, a printing house, a church and service buildings. Colle Ameno is considered a significant example of Bolognese Enlightenment culture in the countryside, combining aristocratic residence, agricultural production, craft activity and cultural functions. Until the interwar period the municipality was known as Praduro e Sasso. It became Sasso Bolognese in 1935 and Sasso Marconi in 1938, following the death of Guglielmo Marconi in 1937. The change reflected the growing symbolic association between the municipality and Marconi's early experiments at Villa Griffone. During the Second World War, Sasso Marconi lay in an area affected by the German occupation, the partisan resistance and the fighting around the Gothic Line. Colle Ameno was requisitioned by the Luftwaffe in January 1944; in July it was converted into a military hospital, and between 6 October and 23 December 1944 it functioned as a detention and transit camp for male civilians. On 8 September 1944, German SS troops killed fifteen men at Rio Conco di Vizzano, in the territory of Sasso Marconi, in reprisal after the killing of two German officers by partisans the previous day. For its role during the Resistance and the Liberation War, the municipality was awarded the War Cross for Military Valour for partisan activity by the Italian Ministry of Defence in 1994. In 2010 the municipal banner also received the Gold Medal for Civil Merit from the President of the Italian Republic.

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Sasso Marconi is the starting point of From Sasso Marconi to Fiesole in 4 days and it’s a stopover point on From Bologna to Florence in one week, From Bologna to Firenze in 6 days and From Firenze to Bologna in 6 days. You can reach Fiesole in 4 days, Firenze in 6 days and Bologna in one day.