Description of the attraction
The Abbey of Montevello Regional Park is a protected natural area in the Emilia-Romagna region, established in 1995. It occupies 878 hectares of the Italian province of Bologna, just 20 km west of the city of Bologna. Many small mammals live here: European hedgehog, squirrel, dormouse, musk rat, field mouse. There are hares, foxes, badgers and martens. Larger animals include wild boars and roe deer. The local avifauna is very diverse: nightingales, black-headed warblers, wrens, robins, blackbirds, finches, chiffchaffs and other birds - typical inhabitants of the local forests and fields. The landscape of the park is also unusually diverse - forested mountains and river valleys are interspersed with agricultural areas cultivated by man for centuries.
But, perhaps, the main attraction of the park is the ancient Abbey of Montevello, located a stone's throw from the town of the same name in the Samodja valley. The valley itself is bounded on the east and west by the Giaia di Serravalle and Marzatore rivers and includes the hilly areas south and west of Montevello: the hill of Montevello Alto with the ruins of the medieval castle and the Abbey of Santa Maria di Montevello, the millennial church, the Morello mountains, Gennaro and Freddo, as well as the small valley of the Ramato River. The tumultuous events of the Middle Ages once unfolded in the ancient castle, and its tower, erected in the 14th century, now houses a tourist visitor center. The abbey, which recently housed the Franciscan community, is a masterpiece of Romanesque architecture, although it was built in the 5th century, which is confirmed by the local family crypt. In the 11th century, the abbey building was restored, and since that time it has come down to us unchanged.
Today, several tourist routes have been laid through the park, following which you can see the impressive castle gates and crenellated towers, the prayer house of San Rocco and San Sebastian, the massive bell tower, the old house of St. Bernadette and, of course, the abbey itself with its beautiful covered galleries and adjacent to him is the Church of Santa Maria Assunta. And after lunch, you can visit one of the local cheese dairies to see with your own eyes the process of making the famous Parmigiano-Redgiano cheese, or go to taste the local wine.
