Castel di Casio
Castel di Casio | |
|---|---|
| Comune di Castel di Casio | |
 Remains of the medieval tower of Casio | |
  Castel di Casio Location of Castel di Casio in Italy  Castel di Casio Castel di Casio (Emilia-Romagna) | |
| Coordinates: 44°10′N 11°2′E / 44.167°N 11.033°E | |
| Country | Italy |
| Region | Emilia-Romagna |
| Metropolitan city | Bologna (BO) |
| Frazioni | Badi, Berzantina, Casola, Pieve di Casio, Suviana |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Daniele Bertacci |
| Area | |
• Total | 47.33 km2 (18.27 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 533 m (1,749 ft) |
| Population (1 January 2025)[2] | |
• Total | 3,361 |
| • Density | 71.01/km2 (183.9/sq mi) |
| Demonym | Castellani |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
| Postal code | 40030 |
| Dialing code | 0534 |
| {{{blank_name_sec2}}} | Saint Blaise |
| {{{blank1_name_sec2}}} | 3 February |
| Website | Official website |
Castel di Casio (Medial Mountain Bolognese: Castèl or Castèl d Chèsi) is a comune (municipality) of the Metropolitan City of Bologna in Emilia-Romagna, Italy. It is situated in the Bolognese Apennines, about 60 kilometres (37 mi) southwest of Bologna, in the valley of the Limentra stream between Lake Suviana and the confluence of the Limentra with the Reno.[3]
During the Middle Ages, Casio became one of the principal centres of Bolognese authority in the Apennines. In the early 13th century the Comune of Bologna transformed the open settlement into a fortified castle; it later served as the seat of the podestà and of the Capitani delle Montagne ("Captains of the Mountains"), the officials responsible for governing Bologna's mountain territory.[4][5]
Castel di Casio borders the municipalities of Camugnano, Gaggio Montano, Grizzana Morandi, Alto Reno Terme and Sambuca Pistoiese.
Geography
[edit]The municipality occupies the central sector of the Bolognese Apennines, in the southern part of the Metropolitan City of Bologna. Its principal frazioni include Badi, Suviana, Pieve di Casio and Casola.[6] Berzantina lies on the right bank of the Reno, opposite the area of Porretta Terme, and is identified by regional hydrogeological documents as an inhabited locality within the municipality.[7]
The municipal territory includes part of Lake Suviana, an artificial reservoir on the Limentra di Treppio whose dam system extends into neighbouring Camugnano.[8] Part of Castel di Casio also lies within the Regional Park of Lakes Suviana and Brasimone, shared with Camugnano and Castiglione dei Pepoli.[9]
History
[edit]From medieval village to fortified castle
[edit]Casio is documented before the 13th century as an open settlement rather than a castle. The earliest known reference dates to 1036, when property in the territory of the pieve of Saints Quiricus and Julietta was donated to the abbey of Fontana Taona. A document of 1082 calls the settlement vico Casi, while later 12th-century records use forms such as fundo Casi and loco Casi. At that time the area lay on the frontier between the Bolognese and Tuscan spheres of influence and was connected with the lords of Stagno and Bibiano.[10]
On 20 July 1211 Gislimerio, lord of Casio, swore allegiance to the Comune of Bologna in the palace of the local pieve. Bologna subsequently enclosed the settlement with stone walls and built a tower, turning the former vicus Casii into the castrum Casii. The reorganisation also gave the centre its regular medieval layout.[11][12]
The fortification formed part of Bologna's expansion towards the upper valleys of the Reno, Limentra and Setta during its conflict with Pistoia, known as the War of Sambuca. A peace agreement between the two communes was signed in the pieve of Casio on 26 April 1215, followed by a papal arbitration in 1219.[13]
Administrative and economic centre
[edit]A Bolognese podestà is documented at Casio by 1213. From the later 13th century the castle became the seat of the Capitani delle Montagne, magistrates appointed by Bologna with military, administrative, policing and judicial responsibilities across the mountain territory. Their palace stood inside the walls, near the western gate and below the tower, in the place described by contemporary documents as ubi ius redditur, where justice was administered.[14]
Casio retained this administrative role until the early 15th century. The Captains of the Mountains are documented at Vergato in 1412 and 1415, marking the transfer of the magistracy away from Casio.
The castle also functioned as a local market centre. A market held on the first day of each month is documented from 1214, both inside the walls and in the mercatale outside the western gate. Before the church of San Biagio was built within the castle, the inhabitants belonged to the nearby pieve of Saints Quiricus and Julietta. The area was also served by the hospital of San Giovanni Battista of Casio, dependent on the medieval hospital of Pratum Episcopi at present-day Spedaletto.[15]
Lake Suviana and protected area
[edit]The frazione of Suviana gave its name to Lake Suviana, created by damming the Limentra di Treppio. Work began in 1928 as part of the hydroelectric development of the upper Reno and Limentra valleys. The reservoir supplied a hydroelectric plant serving the Bologna–Florence railway and became part of a wider system linked with the reservoirs of Brasimone, Pavana and Molino del Pallone.[16][17]
The surrounding landscape has been protected since 1995 within the Regional Park of Lakes Suviana and Brasimone. The park covers 2,096 hectares, with a further contiguous area of 1,233 hectares, across the municipalities of Castel di Casio, Camugnano and Castiglione dei Pepoli.[18]
Main sights
[edit]Historic centre and medieval tower
[edit]The historic centre retains the layout of the 13th-century fortified settlement. Its principal surviving monument is the medieval tower in Via San Giovanni, built in sandstone as part of the Bolognese fortifications. The tower was erected in 1219 and originally stood about 30 metres (98 ft) high. It was split vertically by the earthquake of 1846 and was later reduced in height during restoration.[19][20]
Religious buildings
[edit]The parish church of San Biagio, dedicated to the patron saint of Castel di Casio, developed within the medieval castle after the Bolognese fortification of the settlement.
Outside the historic centre, the pieve of Saints Quiricus and Julietta was the main medieval ecclesiastical institution of the area and was already documented in the 13th century. The present building was extensively altered during restoration begun in 1790; the lower part of the bell tower may preserve elements of the earlier structure, while the high altar contains a 19th-century painting of the patron saints by Alessandro Guardassoni.[21]
The frazione of Badi contains the 17th-century Baroque church of San Prospero. Nearby, at Monte di Badi, the Romanesque oratory of Sant'Ilario dates from the early 12th century and retains a single nave, a semicircular apse and 16th-century frescoes.[22]
Ponte di Castrola
[edit]The Ponte di Castrola is a stone humpback bridge across the Limentra Orientale, on the historic route between the territories of Castel di Casio and Camugnano. A bridge at Castrola is first documented in 1189 in two donations made jointly to the abbey of Montepiano and to the bridge itself. Medieval records also mention a house at one end of the crossing, occupied by a lay brother responsible for its maintenance and for supervising traffic.[23]
The present single-span masonry bridge dates from the mid-19th century. It was commissioned jointly by the municipalities of Camugnano and Casio-Casola after several alternative routes had been considered; construction was contracted in 1847. The bridge was restored together with the adjoining historic path and reopened in 2024.[24][25]
Administration
[edit]Castel di Casio is part of the Metropolitan City of Bologna and of the Union of Municipalities of the Bolognese Apennines. Since the municipal elections of 2024, the mayor has been Daniele Bertacci.[26]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ↑ "Superficie di Comuni Province e Regioni italiane al 9 ottobre 2011". Italian National Institute of Statistics. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
- ↑ "Castel di Casio". Tuttitalia (in Italian). Retrieved 29 April 2026.
- ↑ "Castel di Casio". Emilia-Romagna Turismo (in Italian). Retrieved 29 April 2026.
- ↑ Zagnoni, Renzo (2012). "Il castello di Casio nel Medioevo. Nuovi documenti (secoli XI-XIV)" (PDF). Atti e memorie della Deputazione di storia patria per le province di Romagna. n.s. (in Italian). LXIII: 123–188.
- ↑ Zagnoni, Renzo. "Il Capitano delle montagne bolognesi in partibus Caxi: le sue funzioni e il palazzo ubi ius redditur (secoli XIII-XIV)" (PDF) (in Italian). Retrieved 29 April 2026.
- ↑ "Il Comune" (in Italian). Comune di Castel di Casio. Retrieved 29 April 2026.
- ↑ "Piano Stralcio per l'Assetto Idrogeologico: Scheda n. 118, Berzantina" (PDF) (in Italian). Autorità di Bacino del Reno / Regione Emilia-Romagna. Retrieved 29 April 2026.
- ↑ "Piano di Emergenza Diga della diga di Suviana" (PDF) (in Italian). Regione Emilia-Romagna. Retrieved 29 April 2026.
- ↑ "Parco regionale Laghi Suviana e Brasimone" (in Italian). Regione Emilia-Romagna. Retrieved 29 April 2026.
- ↑ Zagnoni, Renzo (2012). "Il castello di Casio nel Medioevo. Nuovi documenti (secoli XI-XIV)" (PDF). Atti e memorie della Deputazione di storia patria per le province di Romagna. n.s. (in Italian). LXIII: 123–188.
- ↑ Zagnoni, Renzo (2012). "Il castello di Casio nel Medioevo. Nuovi documenti (secoli XI-XIV)" (PDF). Atti e memorie della Deputazione di storia patria per le province di Romagna. n.s. (in Italian). LXIII: 123–188.
- ↑ "Resti del Castello di Casio". Catalogo generale dei Beni Culturali (in Italian). Ministero della Cultura. Retrieved 29 April 2026.
- ↑ Zagnoni, Renzo. "La guerra della Sambuca. Bologna e Pistoia per la conquista delle alte valli appenniniche" (PDF) (in Italian). Retrieved 29 April 2026.
- ↑ Zagnoni, Renzo. "Il Capitano delle montagne bolognesi in partibus Caxi: le sue funzioni e il palazzo ubi ius redditur (secoli XIII-XIV)" (PDF) (in Italian). Retrieved 29 April 2026.
- ↑ Zagnoni, Renzo. "L'ospitale del Pratum Episcopi nel Medioevo: strutture, funzioni, rettori, conversi (secoli XI-XIV)" (PDF) (in Italian). Retrieved 29 April 2026.
- ↑ "Il bacino artificiale di Suviana". Bologna Online (in Italian). Biblioteca Salaborsa. Retrieved 29 April 2026.
- ↑ "Piano di Emergenza Diga della diga di Suviana" (PDF) (in Italian). Regione Emilia-Romagna. Retrieved 29 April 2026.
- ↑ "Parco regionale Laghi Suviana e Brasimone" (in Italian). Regione Emilia-Romagna. Retrieved 29 April 2026.
- ↑ "Resti del Castello di Casio". Catalogo generale dei Beni Culturali (in Italian). Ministero della Cultura. Retrieved 29 April 2026.
- ↑ "Torre di Casio". Appennino Bolognese (in Italian). Città metropolitana di Bologna. Retrieved 14 July 2026.
- ↑ "Parish of San Quirico and Iulitta". Appennino Bolognese. Città metropolitana di Bologna. Retrieved 14 July 2026.
- ↑ "Badi". Appennino Bolognese. Città metropolitana di Bologna. Retrieved 14 July 2026.
- ↑ Zagnoni, Renzo (2001). "Il ponte di Castrola dal Medioevo al secolo XIX" (PDF) (in Italian). Gruppo di studi alta valle del Reno – Nuèter. pp. 46–54. Retrieved 14 July 2026.
- ↑ Zagnoni, Renzo (2001). "Il ponte di Castrola dal Medioevo al secolo XIX" (PDF) (in Italian). Gruppo di studi alta valle del Reno – Nuèter. pp. 46–54. Retrieved 14 July 2026.
- ↑ "Inaugurazione del restauro del ponte di Castrola". Appennino Bolognese (in Italian). Città metropolitana di Bologna. 5 May 2024. Retrieved 14 July 2026.
- ↑ "Castel di Casio: Sindaco e Amministrazione Comunale". Tuttitalia (in Italian). Retrieved 29 April 2026.