Castel di Casio (Medial Mountain Bolognese: Castèl or Castèl d Chèsi) is a comune (municipality) of the Metropolitan City of Bologna in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna, located in the Bolognese Apennines, about 60 kilometres (37 mi) southwest of Bologna. It lies in the valley of the Limentra stream, between the basin of Lake Suviana and the confluence of the Limentra with the Reno river.[3]
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 |
| Patron saint | Saint Blaise |
| Saint day | 3 February |
| Website | Official website |
In the Middle Ages Casio was one of the principal centres of Bolognese authority in the Apennines. In the early 13th century it was transformed by the Comune of Bologna from an open village into a fortified castle, and later became the seat of the podestà and of the Capitani delle Montagne ("Captains of the Mountains"), the officials through whom Bologna governed its mountain territory.[4][5]
Castel di Casio borders the municipalities of Camugnano, Gaggio Montano, Grizzana Morandi, Alto Reno Terme and Sambuca Pistoiese.
Geography
editCastel di Casio is situated in the southern part of the Metropolitan City of Bologna, in the central sector of the Bolognese Apennines. The municipal website lists Badi, Suviana, Pieve di Casio and Casola among the main frazioni.[6]
Berzantina is an inhabited locality of the municipality on the right bank of the Reno, opposite the area of Porretta Terme. A regional hydrogeological document identifies it as the "nucleo abitato della Berzantina, nel comune di Castel di Casio", while postal sources list Berzantina among the localities of the municipality with the postal code 40030.[7][2]
The municipal territory is closely linked to Lake Suviana, an artificial reservoir on the Limentra di Treppio. The dam system is located between the municipalities of Castel di Casio and Camugnano and forms one of the main landscape and infrastructural features of the area.[8]
Part of the municipality lies within the Regional Park of Lakes Suviana and Brasimone, which extends across the municipalities of Castel di Casio, Camugnano and Castiglione dei Pepoli.[9]
History
editEarly medieval settlement
editThe settlement of Casio is documented in medieval sources before the 13th century as an open village rather than as a fortified castle. According to historian Renzo Zagnoni, before the beginning of the 13th century Casio was described as a vicus, while the nearby centre of Bibiano was already recorded as a castrum.[4]
The first known mention of Casio dates to 1036, in connection with property donated to the abbey of Fontana Taona within the territory of the pieve of Saints Quiricus and Julietta. In 1082 the settlement was described as vico Casi, and in later 12th-century documents it appears with forms such as fundo Casi and loco Casi.[4]
During the 12th century the area stood in a frontier zone between the Bolognese and Tuscan spheres of influence. The local lordship was connected with the lords of Stagno and Bibiano, while the growing Comune of Bologna was expanding its authority over the mountain territory linked to the diocese of Bologna.[4]
Submission to Bologna and fortification
editA decisive change occurred on 20 July 1211, when Gislimerio, lord of Casio, swore loyalty to the Comune of Bologna in the palace of the pieve of Saints Quiricus and Julietta. The act took place while Bologna was seeking allies in its conflict with Pistoia for control of the upper valleys of the Reno, the Limentra streams and the Setta.[4]
After this submission, Bologna transformed Casio from an open village into a fortified castle. Zagnoni identifies this process as the passage from vicus Casii to castrum Casii. The Comune of Bologna built a stone circuit of walls around the settlement and erected a high tower, which became the most visible symbol of Bolognese power in the mountain territory.[4]
The remains of the medieval tower, located in Via San Giovanni, are listed in the Italian national catalogue of cultural heritage as a 13th-century military tower.[10]
Zagnoni also links the regular layout of the historic centre to the 13th-century Bolognese reorganisation of the settlement, rather than to an unproven Roman origin of the urban plan.[4]
Podestà and Captains of the Mountains
editThe strategic position of Casio, near the southern border of the Bolognese contado and close to the Pistoiese territory, explains its choice as a seat of Bolognese magistrates in the Apennines.[5]
A Bolognese podestà is documented at Casio by 1213. In the same period the castle became a military and administrative centre for Bolognese operations in the conflict with Pistoia, known as the War of Sambuca.[4][11]
From the later 13th century Casio became the seat of the Capitani delle Montagne, or Captains of the Mountains. This magistracy, appointed by Bologna, had military, administrative, policing and judicial functions over the mountain territory.[5]
The palace of the podestà and later of the captain stood inside the castle, near the western gate and below the tower. Zagnoni describes it as the place ubi ius redditur, where justice was administered. The tower therefore had both a defensive and symbolic function: it protected the castle and made visible the authority of Bologna in the Apennines.[5]
Casio retained this role until the early 15th century. Documentary evidence studied by Zagnoni shows the Captains of the Mountains already resident at Vergato in 1412 and 1415, while regional tourism sources also record the transfer of the magistracy from Castel di Casio to Vergato in the 15th century.[5][3]
War of Sambuca and the Bolognese-Pistoiese frontier
editThe political importance of Casio was closely connected with the frontier between Bologna and Pistoia. Between the late 12th and early 13th centuries the two communes competed for control of the upper Apennine valleys. The conflict is usually known as the War of Sambuca, after the castle of Sambuca, one of the principal Pistoiese strongholds in the area.[11]
The conflict culminated in the first decades of the 13th century. A first peace agreement was signed on 26 April 1215 in the church of the pieve of Casio by the representatives of Bologna and Pistoia. In 1219 a papal arbitration settled further border disputes between the two communes.[4][11]
Economy and religious institutions
editThe fortified castle also developed as an economic and religious centre. A market held on the first day of the month is documented from 1214 and was held both inside the castle and in the mercatale, the open area outside the walls near the western gate.[4]
Before the construction of the church of San Biagio inside the castle walls, the inhabitants of Casio were linked to the nearby pieve of Saints Quiricus and Julietta. The medieval settlement was also connected with the hospital of San Giovanni Battista of Casio, dependent on the Pratum Episcopi, the important medieval hospital at present-day Spedaletto near the Pass of Collina.[4][12]
Lake Suviana and protected area
editThe municipality includes Suviana, the hamlet that gave its name to Lake Suviana, an artificial reservoir created by the damming of the Limentra di Treppio. The dam system lies in the territory of both Castel di Casio and Camugnano.[8]
The reservoir was part of the hydroelectric development of the upper Reno and Limentra valleys. Historical material from Biblioteca Salaborsa records that the dam works near Suviana began on 15 October 1928 for the Ferrovie dello Stato and that the works of damming the Limentra di Treppio were completed in 1932.[13]
Regional technical documents record that the Suviana dam was completed in 1935 and was built to feed a hydroelectric power station serving the Bologna–Florence railway line. The reservoir forms part of a wider hydroelectric system in the upper Reno basin, connected with the reservoirs of Brasimone, Pavana and Molino del Pallone.[8]
The surrounding landscape is protected by the Regional Park of Lakes Suviana and Brasimone, established in 1995. According to the Emilia-Romagna Region, the park covers 2,096 hectares, with a contiguous area of 1,233 hectares, in the municipalities of Camugnano, Castel di Casio and Castiglione dei Pepoli.[9]
Main sights
editMedieval tower
editThe remains of the medieval tower dominate the historic centre of Castel di Casio. The tower was part of the fortification built by Bologna in the early 13th century and is recorded by the Italian national catalogue of cultural heritage as a 13th-century military tower.[10]
Historic centre
editThe historic centre preserves traces of the medieval fortified settlement. Zagnoni links its regular layout to the 13th-century reorganisation carried out after the Bolognese conquest of Casio.[4]
Church of San Biagio
editThe parish church of San Biagio is dedicated to Saint Blaise, the patron saint of Castel di Casio. Its medieval origin is connected with the construction of the fortified Bolognese castle and with the need for a church inside the walls.[4]
Pieve of Saints Quiricus and Julietta
editThe pieve of Saints Quiricus and Julietta was one of the main ecclesiastical institutions of the area. The act of submission of Gislimerio to Bologna in 1211 took place in the palace of the pieve.[4]
Badi and the church of San Prospero
editThe hamlet of Badi preserves the church of San Prospero, described by regional tourism sources as a 17th-century Baroque church.[3]
Administration
editCastel 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.[14]
See also
editReferences
edit- ↑ "Superficie di Comuni Province e Regioni italiane al 9 ottobre 2011". Italian National Institute of Statistics. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
- 1 2 "Castel di Casio". Tuttitalia (in Italian). Retrieved 29 April 2026.
- 1 2 3 "Castel di Casio". Emilia-Romagna Turismo (in Italian). Retrieved 29 April 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 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.
- 1 2 3 4 5 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.
- 1 2 3 "Piano di Emergenza Diga della diga di Suviana" (PDF) (in Italian). Regione Emilia-Romagna. Retrieved 29 April 2026.
- 1 2 "Parco regionale Laghi Suviana e Brasimone" (in Italian). Regione Emilia-Romagna. Retrieved 29 April 2026.
- 1 2 "Resti del Castello di Casio". Catalogo generale dei Beni Culturali (in Italian). Ministero della Cultura. Retrieved 29 April 2026.
- 1 2 3 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. "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.
- ↑ "Castel di Casio: Sindaco e Amministrazione Comunale". Tuttitalia (in Italian). Retrieved 29 April 2026.