PALACES AND HISTORIC BUILDINGS

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  MONTEVEGLIO CASTLE

  Not much remains of Monteveglio Castle. The ancient fortress known as “The Cucherla” has vanished completely, while all that is left of the castle itself is the portal, topped by a crenellated ramparts, characterizied by swallow-tailed, Ghibellini merlons, on both the patrol battlements and the great watchtower. Only very few traces can still be seen of the other towers, walls and fortifications.
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  ANCIENT MONUMENTS IN OLIVETO

  There are still a few ancient monuments remaining in Oliveto: traces of an 11th century castle; the Oratory of St. Mary of the Graces, which was already in existance in the year 1000 and has recently been restored; the bell tower of the parish church of St. Paul, with its side entrance instead of façade, which houses a 17th century altarpiece attributed to the Bolognese painter Elisabetta Sirani; a large Medieval building known as the Jew's Big House (Casa Grande dell'Ebreo), home to the local Jewish community and the first bank in the region, which displays an old, cracked, terracotta plaque whose barely discernable Latin writing indicates the date of construction: 1410 by Salomon Mathasia; and finally the “Bronzina,” built in the late Middle-Ages (except for its tower, built in the 11th century). In 1527 the Bronzina hosted the Grandees of Spain, and later, in about the 16th century, was used as a hospital to isolate and treat people struck with diseases during the various epidemics, and then turned into a bronze foundry in 1775.
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  MONTEBUDELLO CASTLE

  The foundations of this castle, built in 1227, are all that remain of it and have been incorporated into a villa constructed on the site, replete with wine cellars, a steep embankment on the western side and a 14th century oratory dedicated to St. Ubaldus. Though no longer used as an oratory, the building retains its original charm with ogive-arched windows, and massive, stone, 16th century structure with a strategic view of the Panaro River valley, surely originally used as a lookout tower.