CHURCHES

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  SANTI NICOLO' E AGATA

  The largest of the churches in Zola Predosa is the result of uniting two ancient churches, dedicated respectively to St. Nicholas and St. Agatha. This unificaion took place in the middle of the 15th century. The current Abbey stands on the hill where the Albergati family built their tower, whose new architecture, inaugurated July 24, 1781, also included some protective walls. The project was designed by the architect Cosimo Morelli. Inside are two statues by Alessandro Barbieri, one representing St. Nicholas and the other St. Agatha. The bell tower was desinged by architect Giuseppe Jamorini in 1780. The interior is decorated with important sculptures and stucco works by Giuseppe Callegari. The vaulted ceiling of the main chapel displays frescoes depicting the Glory of Saints Nicholas and Agatha, while the painting in the aspe is of the Assumption of Mary, by Luigi Samoggia and Alessandro Guardassoni, commissioned in 1842. The altarpiece depicting St. Nicholas is by Alessandro Maria Trocchi while the painting of St. Agatha, by Alessandro Calvi, has recently been transferred to the lateral altar. The church also contains a marvelous, antique organ whose sound quality was brought up to date by the Rasori brothers in 1854.

  
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  SAN TOMMASO

  The new, parish church of Gesso on Via Tasso inherited the name of an older one that no longer exists, dedicated to St. Thomas the Apostle which stood beside the bridge over the Lavino River, near the demographic heart of the community. It was designed by Giuseppe and Pietro Coccolini and dedicated in 1995. In contains a monumental, Sielbermann-type organ, a depiction of the Stations of the Cross by Lina Osti and a thirty square meter stained-glass window by Lorenzo Ceregato, illustrating the famous episode of Thomas putting his hand on the wounded side of the risen Christ. The Apostle is also represented in the churchyard by a white Carrara marble statue sculpted by Francesco Martani.

  
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  CRISTO RE

  In 1357 the Marquis Tommaso Magnani, owner of land in the locality called Tombe, obtained permission from the Bishop of Bologna and the Abbot of Zola Predosa to build a chapel-of-ease here. In 1924 Cardinal Nasalli Rocca upgraded it to parish status on the condition that a new building be constructed. The present church, an interpretation of Gothic style by civil engineer Giuseppe Gualandi, was completed in 1925, while the original building, authenically Romanesque, was used as a cement factory until it was finally demolished in 1960 to build a new rectory. Inside we find a 17th century organ and some works of art by contemporary, local Zola Predosa artists such as Teresa Comastri and Francesco Martani. The church has no bell tower, but rather the bells for playing the typical Bolognese style of melodic ringing are hanging in a wooden structure located outside the church.

  
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  SAN LUIGI

  This is one of many churches that Cardinal Lercaro ordered built in the suburbs of Bologna in the wake of the Second World War. Though it stands on land beonging to the Municipality of Casalecchio di Reno, it belongs to the parish of Riale. The definitive project by architect Glauco Gresleri was completed in 1975. It constitutes one of the most interesting examples of contemporary Bolognese religious architecture. Having little space available, the Riale church, including all the traditional church elements such a bell tower and a churchyard, was developed vertically instead of horizontally, starting underground, many stories below street level. With its cloverleaf design, it relies on light as a major element of its architectural plan, filtered through stained-glass skylights. The altar and presbytery are paved with red peperino stone and the seat is made of elmwood. It features a spectacular tabernacle by Tirelli. The Stations of the Cross by Claudio Pacetti was cast in bronze by Leonino Medici di Riale. The windows by Father Costantino Ruggeri develop the themes of the sun and of blood.

  
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  SANTA MARIA

  A recently instituted parish (1995), Santa Maria di Ponte Ronca has two churches. The first, of antique origins (the earliest historical records mentioning it are from the 1500s), is part of a tiny, ancient village known as ‘I Portici’. Inside, there used to be an antique image of the Madonna purported to be miraculous, the work of an unknown painter in the late 18th century, which is now kept in the new church (designed by civil engineer Rodolfo Bettazzi, inaugurated in 1962 and then expanded, little by little). Remarkable on the façade of the antique “little church,” is a terracotta, high-relief sculpture representing the Virgin Mary as a child being presented at the temple, to whom the parish is dedicated.