It represents a rare example of a fully preserved Medieval Castrum. Today included in the club of the "Most Beautiful Villages of Italy" which, with its keep, is considered by many scholars to be one of the best 15th-century fortification works in Italy... #tuttitaly
La Rocca is a medieval fortress in Bagnara di Romagna, built in the fifteenth century by the lords of Imola, the Riardo-Sforza.
The Rocca was built on the ruins of the medieval Castrum, which was destroyed in 1428 in the battle against Angiolo della Pergola.
Elements of considerable interest: the 15th-century keep and loggia, the central courtyard with a Renaissance appearance, some interior rooms with original wooden ceilings, the iron supports of the drawbridge located at
noon, the water reserve well, and the spiral staircase formed by 78 superimposed sandstone monoliths. All elements are in sixteenth-century style.
In the eighteenth century, the building complex was reconverted from military use to civil use: the pits were drained and reclaimed; the fortress became the residence of the bishop's commissioner; and in some periods, its premises were also used as a prison.
With the end of papal rule, the Rocca passed to the Kingdom of Italy. Subsequently, the State sells it to the Municipality, which wins it for 2570 lire, plus 500 lire for the pits.
In the basement of the structure, on the north side, the Municipality obtained an ice house and can therefore supply the old hospital, the butcher's shop, and other services for citizens with ice.
Later the Municipality set up elementary schools there,
which remained there until 1926. From 1962 to 2008, the Rocca became the municipal residence. Today, however, the City Museum is housed inside.
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