Tales from the "Bassa" (Flatland) - part III

Leaving Pieve di Cento we continue our trip following the right bank of the Reno river till the town of Galliera. Here the river curves abruptly to the right while a very large channel starts here running further to the north and ending into the Po river. Actually that was the original course of the Reno which was a tributary of the Po, then in the XVIII century, because of the continuous floods, it was deviated to the right through a channel 30 km long, the Cavo Benedettino (from the name of the Pope Benedetto XIV under whose rule it was dug)



Here we can also found the "Bosco della Panfilia" (Panfilia wood) which is pretty famous for the white truffles that can be found here (and the yummy truffle festival organized here every November). Thanks to the Reno flood I found the wood completely submerged in water which was a very unusual view, probably very similar to how these zones looked in the past when meadows ruled these lands.



Galliera originally was a castle built by the city of Bologna in the XIII century to control this strategical zone. But in short time the castle felt under the control of the Ghibellines exiles from Bologna so the Guelph army of the city razed it to the ground an just a tower survived to the present days.
While I was there I took the occasion to have a very good lunch in the Trattoria Galliera where I ate cappellacci di zucca (the recipe is here) and polenta col somarino (mush with young donkey meat).



Continuing to travel beside the Reno river we met the town of Malalbergo and a bridge crossing the river (which was menacingly high) that would bring us to the gates of Ferrara but we took instead an eastern direction toward the hamlet of San Pietro Capofiume (with its sister hamlet of Santa Maria Codifiume on the opposite bank) which is under the municipality of Molinella.



Molinella is a fluvial town whose name derives from the huge number of water mills that were built here to exploit the waterways. It was a border town between Bologna and Ferrara since the Middle Age and an important trade center but also a place of bandits and exiles. An important battle was fought here in July 25th 1467 between the army of Bartolomeo Colleoni (captain of Venice and allied with Ferrara) and the army of Florence, Milan, Naples and Bologna. The battle became famous because it was one of the first were firearms were widely used resulting in an impressive number (for the times) of kills, about 600-700 soldiers and about 1000 horses, the sign that knightly days were almost over.



Leaving the town and heading further east we enter the hamlet of Marmorta (literally dead sea) which, as the name implied, is a marshy zone still today and protected, because of the unique flora, vegetation and fauna, by a huge park named "Valli di Campotto" which lies at the borders with the municipality of Argenta, under the province of Ferrara.



Here in the iced marshes of Campotto ends our travel following the Reno river in the province of Bologna. We met medieval towns, wild nature and huge engineering works together with food and recipes that dates back to the Middle Age: the never ending charm of the plaind lands called "Bassa".

The other articles of the reportage: Tales from the "Bassa" (Flatland):
Tales from the "Bassa" (Flatland)"
Traditional Sourdough Pork Fat Bread: the "Coppia Ferrarese"
Pumpkin Tortelli
Quinces and Plums Preserve
Fruit Preserve Filled Pastries (Raviole Bolognesi)
Tales from the "Bassa" (Flatland) part II"

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