PLACES OF INTEREST

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  CEREGLIO

  Up until the nineteen fifties Cereglio, an outlying village of Vergato was just a small group of homes and stables, covering just a few hundred metres. Later, from 1960 onwards, several holiday homes sprang up to add to the existing urban area and helped to create the Cereglio that we know today. The name Cereglio may have Roman origins. Since it was customary in those days to give places names that referred to the families that settled there, it could in fact derive from the name of the founder of the new settlement, Ceraellius. Another legend, however, speculates that the name Cereglio derives from Cerere, Latin Goddess of crops, and from Helios (Greek for the sun) with particular reference to the fertility of the soil and the favourable exposure of the village. In a kind of census, the author of the Chorography of Italy, Abbot Serafino Calindri, tells us that in 1781 the village was a Council that was united with Susano and had 448 souls, divided into 97 families. Calindri, in his chronicles, also reported a low rate of “morbidity”, the frequency with which a certain illness occurs in the population; this was probably due to the use of the now famous “Acqua Cerelia”, the source of which can be found in Pradavena, a small valley at 755m. In actual fact, the local people have always used this water for therapeutic purposes as it seems to have beneficial effects.

  
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  TOLE

  A hamlet of the main town where you can cool down even on the hottest summer days and take a relaxing stroll through the countryside. In particular, leaving from the main Square and following the street indications it is just a short walk to the Alpine church dedicated to Our Lady of the Snows. Situated on a hill above the town, it is a fascinating place, full of charm where you can enjoy the peace and quiet. You can also take a food and wine tour around the nearby dairies with their delicious offerings that can be bought directly from the producers.

  
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  PORRETTANA

  After the presentation of many projects for a railway line that could link Bologna and Northern Italy with Tuscany, the one by J. L. Protche was chosen and work began during Papal rule and ended during the early years of the unification of Italy. The “Porrettana\" line was inaugurated on the 3rd of November 1864, but the stretch from Bologna to Vergato was finished two years earlier (1862) and the one from Vergato to Porretta the following year (1863). The work, which included 47 tunnels and 35 bridges and viaducts, for a total length of 99 km, posed many dangers to the workers who were insured thanks to an agreement that required them to be looked after and which established that in the event of death their widows would receive compensation that was equivalent to six months of the worker’s salary.