San Giovanni in Persiceto
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San Giovanni in Persiceto | |
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Comune di San Giovanni in Persiceto | |
St. John the Baptist | |
Saint day | June 24 |
Website | Official website |
San Giovanni in Persiceto (from 1912 to 1927: Persiceto; Western Bolognese: San Żvân) is a comune (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Bologna, in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna.
Located in the northern part of the Metropolitan City, bordering with the provinces of Modena and Ferrara, San Giovanni in Persiceto is surrounded by the municipalities of Anzola dell'Emilia, Castelfranco Emilia, Castello d'Argile, Cento, Crevalcore, Sala Bolognese and Sant'Agata Bolognese.
History
Middle Ages
The most ancestral records claim the town was first populated by Gauls, but later occupied by the
Also in the 9th century, the Abbots of Nonantola (western side) and Bishops of Bologna (eastern side) gave out the first "ad meliorandum" grants of swampy and untilled land to the inhabitants of Persiceto; these lands would form the future Partecipanza agraria (Agricultural Attendance). After a brief autonomy (11–12th century), San Giovanni in Persiceto again came under political control of Bologna, till at the beginning of the 16th century, it ultimately subjected to the Papal rule.
In the 13th and 14th centuries, the 'castle' or 'land' of S. Giovanni in Persiceto was enlarged by a second circle of walls outside the Borgo Rotondo and by expanded settlements, surrounded, like the castle, by ditches, gates and palisades. However, because of the rebellion of the inhabitants of Persiceto, ever since the 1420s, the High Council of Bologna decreed that the external villages and its palisades had to be removed, the ditches filled up and all buildings that might be used as fortress had to be destroyed.
The ring villages were destroyed by 1481, under the rule of Giovanni II Bentivoglio; while over the years the castle expanded to its present shape with new bastions and embankments. At the end of the 15th century, the Bentivoglio using designs of Gaspare Nadi, built the present city hall, acquired by the Community in 1612. In the final years of Bentivoglio's rule, a canal to help drain the boggy lowlands of Sant'Agata Bolognese, Crevalcore and San Giovanni in Persiceto, was completed: this canal, the Cavamento, made large swaths of northern Persiceto tillable and habitable, so that by the 1470s, the new parish of San Matteo della Decima and its church were built. The inhabitants of Persiceto thankfully donated to Giovanni Bentivoglio a vast piece of land, on which later the mansion and castle of la Giovannina was built.
Modern age
Between the 15-16th century hemp culture and weaving expanded; and new crops such as mulberry, rice, and maize, were introduced. Landownership became more concentrated and sharecropping system consolidated, though the latter has been limited by the existence of Participants on a wide area. During the 16th century the Persiceto was overrun by foreign armies; the Agricultureal Attendance Institute Partecipanza was founded and a sharing of the common lands that took place every nine years was enhanced; the city centre underwent a process of impoverishment, whereas the weekly market on Wednesday kept flourishing thanks to old privileges. The local oligarchy of new families' faithful to the Church and subject to the Reggimento of Bologna and the Papal Legacy was established.
In the following two centuries, the castle interior underwent reconstruction; many broletti ('little kitchen-gardens') among the buildings disappeared in favour of new houses. Old medieval buildings were also destroyed, while some others were irreversibly modified. New churches and convents were built (among the other things, with the demolition of the old parish, a collegiate church was rebuilt there). The Ospedale del SS. Salvatore (now G. G. Croce Town Library and historical archive) was built on the grounds of the old fortress. The town theatre was built.
The incompetence of Papal governance impeded the development of the agriculture, whereas in other zones of the Po river valley advances in cultivation during half of the 18th century enhanced agricultural and economic progress. In Persiceto we can pinpoint samples of early rural industry: for centuries the inhabitants of Persiceto had cultivated hemp, not only for local production (together with cloth machining) for the weekly market, but also hemp which came from other places (such as Cento and Crevalcore) that was included in the trade. The surplus production of cloth was mostly exported to Venice.
French Revolutionary Wars
Persiceto was occupied by Revolutionary French troops in 1796, and the parishes of Persiceto and of
Between 1796 and 1815, although the structures of the boards of direction and their denominations were changed, in Persiceto mostly the same families did the same civil service: they were clearly fit for adaptation. Within the same years the feudal privileges and the tithe were abolished, the pieces of land belonging to the Church were forfeited and the landed property was accumulated. The rice culture, with its following crisis of the sharecropping system, was expanded and so did even the agricultural day-labourers. With the restoration of the Papal rule remarkable works for the improvement of the "Castle" were started and in 1838 Pope
Persiceto after unification
Persiceto provided some volunteers in the wars of Independence even before the region was annexed to the
The past 150 years of Persiceto have seen pitched fights for land; the working classes shifted then from rebellion into organization: after the Comune of
After World War I land disputes again recurred, during which the massacre of Decima by public forces (5 April 1920) was carried out; in the political and social challenges particularly the fascists resorted to force against the socialists and their institution: many people of Persiceto had to leave the country because of their antifascist resentments or had to undergo jail or confinement.
World War II and after
During
Nowadays, just 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) away from the Northern suburbs of Bologna, San Giovanni in Persiceto is part of the economic hub of the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, linked to Bologna by frequent train journeys.
Main sights
- Civico Orto Botanico "Ulisse Aldrovandi", a botanical garden
- Astronomical Observatory and Planetarium
Famous people
- Marco Belinelli (1986), basketball player with the San Antonio Spurs (NBA);
- Alberto Bergamini (1871-1962), director of "Il giornale d'Italia" and liberal senator;
- Raffaele Pettazzoni (1883-1959), historian of religions and academic;
- Agostino Bignardi (1921-1983), national secretary of the liberal party from 1972 to 1976 and university professor of the history of agriculture.
Trivia
- In Sturmtruppen, a famous Italian comic strip written by Bonvi, San Giovanni in Persiceto is the birthplace of one of the main characters, the Fiero Alleaten Galeazzo Musolesi.
- On 7 July 1969, the town of San Giovanni in Persiceto was chosen by the first section of the criminal court in Palermo where forced to send to the stay for four years, Salvatore Totò Riina. In the same year Riina started the hiding, before reaching the place of confinement.
- Main-belt minor planet69245 Persiceto is named after the town.
Sources
- ^ "The World Gazetteer". Archived from the original on 5 January 2013. Retrieved 23 February 2007.
- ^ "Superficie di Comuni Province e Regioni italiane al 9 ottobre 2011". Italian National Institute of Statistics. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
- ^ "Popolazione Residente al 1° Gennaio 2018". Italian National Institute of Statistics. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
External links
Media related to San Giovanni in Persiceto at Wikimedia Commons