Mordano ( rgn, Murdè or ) is a town and ''

comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...

'' in

Emilia Romagna Emilia-Romagna (, , both also ; ; egl, Emégglia-Rumâgna or ''Emîlia-Rumâgna''; rgn, Emélia-Rumâgna) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy, situated in the north of the country, comprising the historical regions ...

(

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

), situated in the

province of Bologna The province of Bologna ( it, provincia di Bologna) was a province in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. Its provincial capital was the city of Bologna. The province of Bologna covered an area of and had a total population of 1,004,323 inhabitan ...

. The municipality is organized in two major villages: ''Mordano'' and ''Bubano''.

History

An intense activity of

centuriation Centuriation (in Latin ''centuriatio'' or, more usually, ''limitatio''), also known as Roman grid, was a method of land measurement used by the Romans. In many cases land divisions based on the survey formed a field system, often referred to in mode ...

was performed by the

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

in the area and this is still visible nowadays: the streets of the countryside are organized in a squared lattice, every square has a side of about 715 meters (0.444 miles). Reclaim of land is attested during the 11th and 12th centuries, creating the ''massa Bibani'': a little village (Bubanus) grew around this new partition of cultivable land. Later, a castle was built up in this location. The presence of a castle in Mordano is attested during the 15th century. Both castles were then annexed in the domain of

Caterina Sforza Caterina Sforza (1463 – 28 May 1509) was an Italian noblewoman, the Countess of Forlì and Lady of Imola, firstly with her husband Girolamo Riario, and after his death as a regent of her son Ottaviano. Caterina was a noblewoman who lived a li ...

in 1488. In 1494, king Charles VIII of France destroyed the castle of Mordano, but it was unable to conquer the one of Bubano, bolstered by Caterina Sforza and transformed into a strong fortress. During the following centuries, Mordano and Bubano were part of the domain of the Church and the two municipalities were joined. During this period, also the castle of Bubano was gradually demolished and nowadays only the main tower (known as ''Torrione Sforzesco'') still exists. In 1860 the municipality of Mordano became part of the newborn kingdom of

Events

Around the year, several public events occur in the municipality of Mordano *''Sagra dell'Agricoltura'' (Agriculture celebration), since 1981. Mordano, last week of May. *''Palio del Torrione'' (Palio of the defensive tower), since 1997. Bubano, third week of June. *''Rock a Tutta Birr''a (Beer festival), since 1994. Chiavica, first week of September.

Twin towns – sister cities

Mordano is twinned with: *

Mezőhegyes Mezőhegyes is a town in Békés county, in the Southern Great Plain region of south-east Hungary. It is home to the Hungarian State Stud ( hu, italic=no, Mezőhegyesi Állami Ménes), founded in 1784 and famous for its Nonius, Furioso-North Sta ...

, Hungary, since 1990

References

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