The municipal territory develops along the Via Bazzanese, the ancient Via Claudia from the Roman era whose route, which no longer corresponds exactly to today's one, and which overlapped the even older Via Petrosa, probably from the Villanovan era, which from Bologna it led to Modena.
In these places the human settlement is attested by numerous and important archaeological finds since the Bronze Age. Villanovan, Etruscan and Roman cultures are documented with finds that can be admired today at the Archaeological Civic Museum of Bologna.
Of the medieval communities of Gesso, Zola and Predosa we have information from documents preserved in the State Archive of Bologna and in the Archive of the Abbey of Nonantola, before belonging to the Municipality of Bologna these places were among the possessions of Matilde di Canossa.
Foreign invasions, long wars between Guelphs and Ghibellines and above all the growing political importance of the Bolognese municipality, which will dominate the surrounding area, mark the medieval history of Zola Predosa of which we retain very few traces: the castles of Gesso and Zola are destroyed in this period as well as many churches which were later rebuilt in the following centuries.
From the sixteenth century Bologna became part of the state of the Church and the government of the city and its countryside would remain stable for the next three centuries: this stability allows us today to see, through the artistic and environmental architectural testimonies, the various stages of development economic, social and cultural background of Zola Predosa. In this long period Bologna is governed by a representative of the Pope, the Cardinal Legate, and by a Senate made up of representatives of noble families. Among these there are also the Albergati, the Magnani, the Pepoli of which today we can admire the splendid Zolese residences.