Parks
and Nature
The nature of the Colli Bolognesi presents amazing and unique panoramas created also by the harmonious coexistence with the human presence, as demonstrated by the Parks in the area where evidence of human history can also be admired . To animate the horizons there are also the characteristic jagged shapes of the badlands and there is even a bit of sea thanks to the source of salt water at the Rio Marzatore.
Lock Park
The Chiusa di Casalecchio di Reno Park is also known as the Talon Park as it consists of the former possessions of the Marquises Sampieri Talon.
It had been designed according to the tastes of the 17th century, like a noble garden that around the two villas had a large French garden, a small Italian garden and finally a vast English park that opened suggestive views of the river and fields and vineyards surrounding.
In addition to a forest that served as a hunting and timber reserve.
Statues, kiosks, and exotic settings completed the picture,
Even today it is possible to imagine its noble splendor among the remains of the ancient Villa and the various architectural structures that animated it.
Several historical figures have been guests of the Talons such as, for example, the writer Stendhal.
For more information on the park and its itineraries, you can consult the website:
Park of the Monteveglio Abbey
The Monteveglio Abbey Park is the smallest of the regional parks in Emilia-Romagna but has nothing to envy to the larger ones. In the protected area that covers the natural elements, they blend in harmony with the evidence of man's presence. Fascinating and ancient badlands landscapes alternate with wooded areas, cultivated spaces, small valleys and historical evidence of the place's past.
On one of the main reliefs of the Park you can admire the historic Abbey from which it owes its name.
More information on the Park and its itineraries are available on the website of the Emilia Orientale Parks Authority, in charge of its management: enteparchi.bo.it/parco-abbazia-di-monteveglio
The Calanques
The jagged and unique geometry of the badlands is due to a particular morphology of the clays present in the soil. They are the spectacular product of erosive action due to wind and rain and the alternation of rainy and drought periods.
This type of geological formations is so widespread in the Emilia-Romagna Apennines that their name derives from the Bolognese dialect.
The badlands often provide surprising materials: fascinating minerals and crystals and numerous fossils from the marine environment.
At San Lorenzo in Collina , for example, a skeleton of a whale was found: now preserved in the Museum of Geology and Paleontology G. Cappellini in Bologna in Via Zamboni 63 ( www.museocapellini.it )
Salt water
Rio Marzatore
Along the road that runs alongside the Rio Marzatore in Valsamoggia there is a very particular source. In fact, even if surrounded by fresh water, what flows from this source is instead salty! In fact, it comes from what remains of a fossil sea .
Remained imprisoned among the Pliocene clays when the sea retreated, this water has been known for its medicinal properties since ancient times and has also become a destination for thermal tourism in the early twentieth century.