Sasso Mobile

Under the Parish of Saint Martin of Battedizzo

From medieval times, just below the top of the Rock of Badolo, there stood an ancient Church known as Saint Mary of the Castle, unfortunately destroyed during World War II. Still higher up, on the summit stood the castle itself, belonging first to the Bishop of Bologna and later to the Municipality. In 1306, however, it was occupied by the fearsome Counts of Panico, Ghibellines who, after being expelled from Bologna, took refuge in their many castles in the mountains, including the one in Badolo. The Panico family resisted armed Bolognese forces until 1363, when they succumbed to the troops who had been sent to permanently defeat the enemy presence. The vanquished Counts, however, were granted the honors of war by their adversaries. All that remains of that castle today is its ancient staircase, carved into the rocks, which now leads to the church of Badolo dedicated to Saint Michael the Archangel, first built in the late 14th century. The original building was also destroyed in the war, but was reconstructed in 1976, incorporating some of the elements of its predecessor, still visible, into the new structure. The façade of the church still displays the pockmarks left by the bullets which devastated it. Near Badolo Rock, in addition to archeological finds dated to 2000 years B.C., in July of 1881 a hole was discovered containing 41 bronze axes dating from the Bronze Age (1900-900 B.C.)