Camugnano

Camugnano
Comune
Comune di Camugnano
Lake Suviana from Monte Calvi, with Stagno in the lower left
Camugnano Location of Camugnano in Italy Show map of Italy Camugnano Camugnano (Emilia-Romagna) Show map of Emilia-Romagna
Coordinates: 44°10′N 11°6′E / 44.167°N 11.100°E / 44.167; 11.100
Country	Italy
Region	Emilia-Romagna
Metropolitan city	Bologna (BO)
Frazioni	Baigno, Bargi, Burzanella, Carpineta, Guzzano, Mogne, San Damiano, Stagno, Trasserra, Verzuno, Vigo
Government
• Mayor	Marco Masinara (Dialogo e Futuro per Camugnano)
Area [1]
• Total	96.6 km2 (37.3 sq mi)
Elevation [1]	692 m (2,270 ft)
Population  (31 December 2024)[2]
• Total	1,891
• Density	19.6/km2 (50.7/sq mi)
Demonym	Camugnanesi
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code	40032
Dialing code	0534
ISTAT code	037010
Patron saint	Saint Martin of Tours
Saint day	11 November
Website	Official website

Camugnano (Medial Mountain Bolognese: Camgnèin; City Bolognese: Camugnàn) is a comune (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy. It lies in the Bolognese Apennines, in the upper basin of the Reno and along the valley of the Limentra di Treppio, between Lake Suviana and Lake Brasimone.^[3]

The municipality includes mountain villages and wooded landscapes within and around the Suviana and Brasimone lakes regional park. Its territory is also associated with hydroelectric power generation and energy research, through the Bargi hydroelectric power station and the ENEA Brasimone Research Centre.^[4][5] Camugnano borders Cantagallo, Castel di Casio, Castiglione dei Pepoli, Grizzana Morandi, Sambuca Pistoiese and Vernio.

Geography

Camugnano occupies a mountainous area of the central Bolognese Apennines, covering about 96.6 km². Its territory extends from Monte Vigese in the north towards the Tuscan-Emilian Apennine ridge in the south, between the Brasimone area to the east and the Limentra di Treppio valley to the west.^[1] The chief town stands at 692 m above sea level.^[1]

The Suviana and Brasimone lakes regional park, established in 1995, extends across the municipalities of Camugnano, Castel di Casio and Castiglione dei Pepoli. It covers 2,096 hectares of parkland and 1,233 hectares of contiguous protected area around two artificial lakes created from the early 20th century for hydroelectric purposes. The ridge formed by Monte Calvi, at 1,283 m, and Monte di Stagno separates the valleys of the Brasimone and Limentra di Treppio streams, which feed the two lakes.^[4]

The municipal territory also contains the Natura 2000 site IT4050020, Laghi di Suviana e Brasimone, a 1,902-hectare special area of conservation and special protection area entirely included within Camugnano and the regional park. The site comprises broad-leaved woodland, chestnut woods, conifer plantations, shrubland and mountain grasslands between the two reservoirs.^[6]

History

Archaeological finds recorded in the municipal territory span several periods. They include a Bronze Age deposit of fourteen axes and votive statuettes at Burzanella, an axe from Baigno, evidence of Etruscan presence along the Limentra and Roman-period finds at Le Mogne.^[1]

In the early Middle Ages, the area lay near the frontier between Lombard Tuscia and the Byzantine Exarchate of Ravenna. From the 10th century, much of the upper Bolognese mountain area came under the influence of Tuscan feudal families, including the Alberti counts of Prato. Fortified settlements developed at Le Mogne, Vigo, Stagno and Bargi. Between the 13th and 14th centuries, the rural communities of the Camugnano area gradually came under the authority of Bologna and of the Capitanato della Montagna, established in 1265.^[1]

The present municipal structure originated in the territorial reorganisation of the Papal States in 1816.^[1] During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Camugnano became more closely connected with the Reno valley and the Bologna–Pistoia railway: telegraph service arrived in 1889, a carriage road linking the municipality with the Porrettana road and railway was completed in 1903, and telephone service began in 1911.^[1] This period also marked the beginning of major hydroelectric development, with the Brasimone dam completed in 1911 and the Suviana dam in 1932.^[1]

During the Fascist period and the Second World War, Camugnano was used as a place of forced residence for Anglo-Libyan Jews. In January 1944, those interned in the municipality were transferred to the San Giovanni in Monte prison in Bologna and subsequently to Fossoli. A group of 32 former Camugnano internees left Fossoli for Bergen-Belsen on 26 January 1944 and was later transferred to Vittel in France.^[7][8]

The municipal territory was also affected by Nazi-Fascist violence during the German occupation of Italy. Documented massacres took place at Burzanella in September and October 1944, and at Verzuno and Vigo on 4 and 5 October 1944.^[9][10][11]

Frazioni and localities

Camugnano comprises the chief town and eleven frazioni: Baigno, Bargi, Burzanella, Carpineta, Guzzano, Mogne, San Damiano, Stagno, Trasserra, Verzuno and Vigo.^[12] Other historic settlements and named localities within the municipal territory include Brasimone, Costozza and Chiapporato.

Vigo lies below the Sasso di Vigo, a small relief at the base of Monte Vigese. Formed from coarse Loiano Sandstones and characterised by a curved outline, the formation is listed by the Emilia-Romagna Region as a geosite of local relevance.^[13] The church of Santo Stefano stands part-way up the rock formation, overlooking the valley below.^[14]

Stagno is a 15th-century mountain village about 7 km from the chief town. Grouped around the church of San Michele Arcangelo, built in 1570, it preserves features typical of Apennine architecture, including sandstone slab roofs, porticoes, windows and doorways. The village was formerly the site of a fortified settlement.^[15]

Chiapporato is a small abandoned hamlet on the western slopes of Monte Calvi, near the Tuscan border and within walking distance of Stagno. Its name is documented from 1145, when the abbey of San Salvatore di Vaiano held possessions there. The settlement was historically inhabited by charcoal burners, shepherds and woodcutters.^[16]

Culture and places of interest

Palazzo Comelli, at Ca' Melati di Bargi, is one of the principal historic buildings in the municipality. Of medieval origin, it was later transformed by the Comelli family of notaries into a mountain palazzo arranged around internal courtyards. The complex includes former rural buildings of the estate, a large sundial, the oratory of Santa Maria in Porcole and rooms associated with the Comelli notarial archive.^[17] Reopened to the public in 2014, it forms part of the Ecomuseo Camugnanese.^[17]

The Ecomuseo Camugnanese is a distributed museum system devoted to local rural life, material culture and historic buildings. It includes Palazzo Comelli, Mulino Cati, the Torretta di Bargi, the oratory of Santa Maria in Porcole, the Museo del Carraio, a museum section devoted to the Mattei family and picture galleries associated with the Comelli and Mattei collections.^[18]

The Museo del Bosco visitor centre is situated at Poranceto, near Baigno, within the regional park. Housed in restored rural buildings in a centuries-old chestnut wood, including a stable, barn and chestnut drying house, it presents the woodland environments of the area and the historical relationship between local communities, forestry, charcoal production and chestnut cultivation.^[19]

Energy and research infrastructure

Camugnano is closely connected with the hydroelectric system of the Suviana and Brasimone basins. The Brasimone reservoir, also known as the Scalere basin, was completed in 1911, while the Suviana dam was completed in 1932.^[1][20] Lake Brasimone historically supplied the Santa Maria hydroelectric plant downstream, near Castiglione dei Pepoli, and is also part of the Bargi pumped-storage system linking Lake Brasimone with Lake Suviana.^[21]

The Bargi hydroelectric power station, on the southeastern shore of Lake Suviana, is a pumped-storage plant within the municipality. It has two reversible units of 165 MW each, for an installed capacity of 330 MW, and has been described as the most powerful hydroelectric plant in Emilia-Romagna.^[22][23]

On 9 April 2024, an explosion at the Bargi plant during maintenance and efficiency works killed seven workers and injured four others. The Suviana dam was not damaged.^[24]

The ENEA Brasimone Research Centre is located at Brasimone, within the municipal territory. It originated in the 1960s as a CNEN centre intended for the PRO experimental organic reactor project, which was later abandoned. In the early 1970s, Brasimone was selected for the PEC experimental reactor project, connected with tests on fast-reactor fuel elements. Following the Chernobyl disaster in 1986 and the Italian nuclear referendum of 1987, the centre was reconverted; by 1990, its activities had been redirected mainly towards controlled thermonuclear fusion technologies and, subsequently, fourth-generation fission research.^[5]

Transport

Camugnano is connected by road with the Reno valley through Vergato and Riola, and with the A1 motorway through the Pian del Voglio and Roncobilaccio exits. The nearest railway station indicated by the municipality is Riola, on the Bologna–Pistoia railway, from which bus services continue towards Camugnano.^[25]

Demographics

Camugnano had 1,891 residents as of 31 December 2024. Its population declined from 2,134 in 2001 to 1,800 in 2020, before increasing to 1,891 in 2024.^[2]

Administration

Marco Masinara is the mayor of Camugnano. He was re-elected for a second consecutive term in May 2023.^[26]

See also

• Lake Suviana
• Lake Brasimone
• Suviana and Brasimone lakes regional park
• Bargi hydroelectric power station
• Bolognese Apennines

References

External links

• Official website