Alto Reno Terme
Municipality in Emilia-Romagna, Italy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Alto Reno Terme is a comune (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Bologna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. It lies in the upper valley of the Reno, in the Bolognese Apennines, close to the regional border with Tuscany.
Alto Reno Terme | |
|---|---|
| Comune di Alto Reno Terme | |
View of Porretta Terme, the municipal seat | |
  Alto Reno Terme Location of Alto Reno Terme in Italy  Alto Reno Terme Alto Reno Terme (Emilia-Romagna) | |
| Coordinates: 44°09′37″N 10°58′24″E | |
| Country | Italy |
| Region | Emilia-Romagna |
| Metropolitan city | Bologna (BO) |
| Frazioni | Biagioni, Borgo Capanne, Capugnano, Casa Calistri, Casa Forlai, Castelluccio, Corvella, Granaglione, Lustrola, Madognana, Molino del Pallone, Ponte della Venturina, Porretta Terme, Vizzero |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Giuseppe Nanni[1] |
| Area | |
• Total | 73.62[2] km2 (28.42 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 353[2] m (1,158 ft) |
| Population (1 January 2026 (provisional))[2] | |
• Total | 7,179 |
| • Density | 97.51/km2 (252.6/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
| Postal code | 40045, 40046[3] |
| Dialing code | 0534 |
| Patron saint | Saint Mary Magdalene[2] |
| Saint day | 22 July |
| Website | www |
The municipality was established on 1 January 2016 through the merger of the former municipalities of Porretta Terme and Granaglione.[4] Its municipal seat and main centre is Porretta Terme, a historic spa town known for its thermal springs, railway connections and cultural events, while the territory of the former municipality of Granaglione forms the more rural and mountainous part of the comune.[5]
Geography
Alto Reno Terme lies in the southern part of the Metropolitan City of Bologna, along the upper course of the Reno river. Its territory is mountainous and forms part of the northern Apennines between Bologna and Pistoia.
The municipality includes the valley-floor settlement of Porretta Terme and numerous mountain villages and hamlets. The principal settlements include Porretta Terme, Granaglione, Castelluccio, Tresana, Capugnano, Corvella, Lustrola, Madognana, Molino del Pallone, Ponte della Venturina, Borgo Capanne, Casa Calistri, Casa Forlai, Biagioni and Vizzero.
The landscape is characterised by wooded slopes, chestnut groves, beech woods, mountain villages and paths connecting the Reno valley with the higher ridges of the Bolognese Apennines. Official tourism sources describe the area as a territory of historic stone villages, old chestnut woods and landscapes shaped by centuries of mountain life.[6][7]
History
The comune was created by Regional Law no. 19 of 23 November 2015 and became operational on 1 January 2016. The new municipality was formed by the merger of the neighbouring municipalities of Porretta Terme and Granaglione, following a consultative referendum held in 2015.[4][8] The same regional law defines Alto Reno Terme as a mountain municipality under Emilia-Romagna legislation.[4]
The historical identity of the area is closely associated with Porretta Terme, which developed as a spa town because of its thermal springs. The waters of Porretta were already known and used in Roman times and contributed to the later development of the town as a spa resort in the northern Apennines.[9]
The former municipality of Granaglione represents the more rural and mountainous side of Alto Reno Terme. Its villages were historically connected with the woodland economy, chestnut cultivation, local agriculture and the routes crossing the Apennines between Emilia-Romagna and Tuscany.[5]
Settlements and landmarks
Porretta Terme
Porretta Terme is the main settlement and municipal seat of Alto Reno Terme. The historic spa town developed along the Rio Maggiore and later expanded on the Reno valley floor, along the Porrettana road and the Pistoia–Bologna railway. Its principal landmarks include the historic Terme Alte spa area, the parish church of Santa Maria Maddalena and the Sanctuary of the Madonna del Ponte.[10]
Porretta is also the principal cultural centre of the municipality and hosts the Porretta Soul Festival and the Porretta Terme Film Festival. Its thermal springs, religious buildings and the villages of the territory of the former municipality are treated in greater detail in the dedicated article.
Granaglione, Lustrola and the mountain villages
Granaglione and the villages of the former municipality form the more rural and mountainous part of Alto Reno Terme. The area is historically associated with chestnut cultivation, woodland activities and the routes linking the upper Reno valley with the Pistoia Apennines. Its settlement pattern is characterised by small stone villages distributed along the Reno and Randaragna valleys and on the surrounding slopes.[5][11]
Lustrola, near Granaglione, is one of the best-preserved historic villages in this part of the municipality. Its first known written mention dates to 1021, in a Pistoia parchment. The village retains a medieval layout of narrow lanes and stone houses, together with the church of San Lorenzo, and is surrounded by centuries-old chestnut groves that were once central to the local mountain economy.[12]
Other settlements include Borgo Capanne, Madognana, Molino del Pallone, Ponte della Venturina, Biagioni, Casa Calistri, Casa Forlai and Vizzero. Several of these villages preserve traditional stone architecture, historic religious buildings and features associated with the former border and transport routes between Emilia and Tuscany.[11]
Capugnano and Castelluccio
Capugnano is known principally for the parish church of San Michele Arcangelo, rebuilt from 1417 and containing a group of Renaissance and later works, including terracotta sculpture associated with the Della Robbia tradition.[13]
Castelluccio is a historic mountain village above Porretta Terme. Its principal landmark is Castello Manservisi, a nineteenth-century residence in a medieval-romantic style that houses the LabOrantes Museum, dedicated to the material and religious culture of the Apennine communities. Nearby are the stone village of Tresana and the eighteenth-century Sanctuary of the Madonna del Faggio, set in a beech wood.[14][15][16][17]
Religious sites
The Sanctuary of the Madonna del Ponte stands beside the Reno valley near Porretta. Its present octagonal building developed from an earlier devotional site; in 2021 the Madonna del Ponte was officially proclaimed patroness of Italian basketball.[18]
In the Granaglione area, the seventeenth-century Sanctuary of Calvigi is another of the municipality's principal religious sites.[19]
Thermal springs
The Porretta thermal springs are one of the defining features of Alto Reno Terme. Known since antiquity, they contributed to the development of Porretta as one of the historic spa towns of the northern Apennines.[9]
The system includes warmer saline bromine-and-iodine waters and cooler sulphurous waters, traditionally used for thermal treatments. The individual springs, their hydrochemistry and the history of the spa complexes are described in the dedicated article.[20]
Museums and culture
Porretta Terme is the principal cultural centre of the municipality. Since 1988 it has hosted the Porretta Soul Festival, an annual festival dedicated to soul music and rhythm and blues.[21] The festival is held at Rufus Thomas Park and has contributed to the association of Porretta Terme with soul music and the Memphis sound.[21]
The municipality is also associated with the history of independent cinema in Italy. The Porretta Terme Film Festival was launched in 2002 and presents itself as a continuation of the experience of the Porretta Terme Free Film Exhibition, an anti-conformist film event active in the 1960s and 1970s.[22]
Museums in the municipality include the Porretta SOUL Museum, the Wood Museum, the Typographical Museum, the DEMM Museum, dedicated to motorcycles and mopeds connected with the historic local manufacturer, and the Museo LabOrantes, located inside Castello Manservisi in Castelluccio.[11][5][23]
Other cultural elements of the municipality are connected with its mountain villages, religious sites, rural architecture and the chestnut-growing traditions of the former municipality of Granaglione.
Transport
Alto Reno Terme is served by the Pistoia–Bologna railway, also known as the Porrettana railway. The line crosses the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines and connects Bologna with Pistoia. It was the first railway line to cross the Tuscan-Emilian Apennine ridge and was officially inaugurated in 1864.[24]
Porretta Terme railway station serves the principal settlement and municipal seat. The area is also crossed by the historic Porrettana road, which follows the Reno valley and connects the Bolognese plain with the Tuscan side of the Apennines.
Other railway stops and stations in the municipal territory or along the immediately surrounding Reno valley include Ponte della Venturina, Molino del Pallone and Biagioni-Lagacci, on the Porrettana railway corridor.[24]
Twin towns
- Memphis, Tennessee, United States[25]
