Monte Battaglia

How to get there:
From the A14 highway (Bologna Taranto), exit at the Castel Bolognese tollbooth, then follow the signs for Riolo Terme, Casola Valsenio (km 26.5 from the tollbooth).
Shortly before arriving at the town of Casola, turn right toward Fontanelice (lavender road)
After about 5.5 km, you reach the Prugno pass; here take the marked left turn to follow for about 2.5 km.
The origin of the name is still an unresolved mystery. Among the various hypotheses, the most credited identify the toponym as an alteration of the Lombard term pataia, meaning a piece of cloth fluttering, i.e., a banner or flag waved by the wind on the top of Monte Battaglia's tower.

Another hypothesis relates to the war between the Goths and Byzantines when Totila in 542 defeated the imperial ranks on the Apennines in a bloody clash before annihilating them in Faenza.
What is certain is that since ancient times and up to the last world war, several bloody battles have occurred to control this height.

Arriving at the square below the mountain summit, a short but steep dirt road leads to the plateau. Before accessing the area of the fortress ruins, you pass through a small square where a bronze monument by the sculptor Aldo Rontini was placed to commemorate the bloody clashes between September 27 and October 11, 1944, between Partisans, Americans, and British on one side and Germans on the other.

The two large statues depict David defeating Goliath in a fight already concluded, recalling the sense of victory and ideals over brute strength, but also, by the position of the combatants, the peace that follows every war and the sense of human pity for the fallen on all sides.

Of the fortress, located at the highest point, little remains; at first glance, it looks more like a watchtower than a real fortress, but around it, you can still observe the remains of perimeter walls and ancient fortifications.
Archaeological excavations carried out during the 1980s uncovered various materials, allowing the location of structures serving the fortress dating back to the 15th century, as well as the discovery of several hearths and dining and kitchen utensils.

A typical Apennine fortress, structurally simple and with exclusively military purposes, it has a quadrangular keep about 6 meters per side and originally about 18 meters high, attached to a curtain wall of 30 by 12 meters (few remains) that surrounded the entire height.

Inside, there were lodgings (no longer visible today) for several dozen armed men