Things to see in Imola

Imola is a town within Bologna Metropolitan District, best known for its motor-racing circuit, which hosts Formula One and other big events.

Until 200 BC, Rome only controlled a small part of Italy. The broad fertile plain of the River Po was obviously worth seizing, so they built Via Aemilia as a great trunk road, with a line of colonies, fortresses and towns along it. Imola was one of these towns, established by the dictator Sulla around 82 BC. Other despots also thought it worth seizing, so Imola was at various times held by the Lombards, the Pope, and the warring Italian great families. It particularly enjoyed patronage in the 15th century and again in the 18th, with many fine buildings created or embellished. The town's main trades were agriculture and ceramics, like nearby Faenza.

Duomo (Basilica Cattedrale di San Cassiano Martire). Built 1187 to 1271, the cathedral was repeatedly restored in the following centuries, especially 1765–1781. The façade dates to 1850. Chiesa di San Michele e Convento dell’Osservanza. Chiesa di Santa Maria dei Servi. Palazzo Comunale. Palazzo Sersanti (Palazzo Riario Sersanti). Museo di San Domenico. Rocca Sforzesca. Palazzo Tozzoni.

Further out: Santuario della Beata Vergine del Piratello. On 27 March 1483 a pilgrim named Stefano Manganelli witnessed a miracle at Piratello in which a vision of the Madonna requested that the people of Imola build her a shrine. This led to the establishment of a monastery (suppressed under Napoleon) and the sanctuary; the cemetery was added a few years later. Dozza is a small town with a castle.