History

Ortolani Villa and Stables in Voltana were originally called Cacciaguerra. In the plate found on the pillar at the entrance we can also read Montagnola, a word that indicates the name that was originally given to Voltana central area, and which is still used today by the elderly in memory of the hill on which the first nucleus of the town arose. Such hill probably formed from sediments or the remaining part of a bank of the Santerno River, the watercourse of which long ago was on what is today Via Fiumazzo.

The uprising and looting in Lugo is an episode that happened between June 30 and July 8 1796 as a result of the locals’ revolt against the French army.

In 1890 a serious event happened in Conselice. On May the 20th and 21st a group of rice weeders gathered in the square Piazza Maggiore and demanded more dignified work conditions and higher salaries.  The protesters headed for the municipality, but security guards reacted with violence and shot at the workers; three were killed, two women rice weeders and a man.

Between the autumn of 1943 and the spring of 1945 a group of Jewish escaping racial persecutions found shelter in Cotignola. They arrived in this town for different reasons and with diverse personal histories, but they were all desperate and on the run; thanks to an amazing network of protection and solidarity they all managed to survive.

Between December 1944 and the 10th of April 1945, Alfonsine was a battlefield for the German army, for the Allie’s armies and for partisans; here on the Senio river the front of the war was named Linea Gotica (Gothic line), also known as Die Grüne Linie.

The Senio originates from the Tuscan hills of Monte Carzolano; after 92km it joins the river Reno. Every year since 2004 locals have been celebrating April 25 (the liberation day, which is a national holiday in Italy) with a long walk that commemorates war events.

Francesco Baracca has played a very important role during World War II, to the extent that he has become a myth. His fame is also connected to the rampant horse, symbol of Ferrari’s cars.

The house of Agnese is a typical end of XIX century country house, perfectly preserved in its main features (brick and mud walls, traditional roof and ceilings) and it’s accessible to the public only on the ground floor. In the barn there’s an exhibition of farming tools and rural everyday life objects. The wide shaded yeard has other traditional buildings for farm animals, for everydaylife and to bake bread.