BOSCOLUNGO. 49. Route. 333
About 2 M. from Ravenna, on the bank of the Ronco, rises the Co-
lonna di Gaston de Foix, a memorial of the victory gained on lilh April,
1512, by the united armies of Louis XII. of France and the Duke of Ferrara
(at which the poet Ariosto was present) over the Spanish troops and those
of Pope Julius II. At the moment when the victory was decided, the
brave Gaston de Foix fell, and 20,000 men were left dead on the field.
From Ravenna to Rimini there is a good road traversing a monotonous,
flat district, and passing S. Apollinare in Classe, the pine-forest, the small
town of Cervia, Cesenatico, S. Martino, and Celle, altogether a drive ol
4'/2 hours. — Rimini, see Baedeker''s Central Italy.
49. From Bologna to Florence.
82 M. Railway in 4-6 hrs. (fares 14 fr. 90, 10 fr. 45, 7fr. 45 c; express
16 fr. 40, 11 fr. 50 c). — A boldly-constructed line. Fine views of the
valleys and ravines of the Apennines (generally to the left), and after¬
wards of the rich plains of Tuscany.
Bologna, see p. 306. The train skirts the slopes of the Monte
della Guardia (p. 322), near the Reno, which it soon crosses. On
an island in the Reno, not far from Bologna, the Second Trium¬
virate was concerted by Octavian, Antony, and Lepidus, B.C. 43.
4y2 M. Borgo Panigale; 6 M. Casolecchio, where the valley of
the Reno contracts. Here on 26th June, 1402, the army of Gio¬
vanni Bentivoglio was defeated by Gian Galeazzo Visconti, and
on 21st May, 1511, that of Pope Julius II. under the Duke of Ur-
bino, by the French. — On the left, near (12 M.) Sasso, the brook
Setta falls into the Reno, from which a subterranean aqueduct,
constructed by Augustus and recently restored, leads to Bologna
(see p. 307). — 17 M. Marzabotto, with the spacious Villa Aria.
Etruscan antiquities have been frequently found near the neigh¬
bouring village of Misano. Between this point andPracchia there are
22 tunnels. 20i/2 M. Pioppe di Malfolle. At (24y2 M.) Vergato
the valley expands. 29y2 M. Riola; on the left rise the abrupt
peaks of Monte Ovolo and Monte Vigese; a landslip from the latter
destroyed the village of Vigo in 1851. On the left bank of the Reno
is the modernised castle of Savignono, with picturesque environs.
37 M. Porretta (*Albergo Cavour, unpretending; Palazzino, open
in summer only), a village of 3400 inhab , with mineral springs
and baths, is much frequented in summer. — Beyond Porretta the
line enters a narrow and romantic ravine of the Reno, from the
sides of which numerous waterfalls are precipitated, particularly
in spring, and is then carried by a series of tunnels, cuttings, and
viaducts to the culminating point where it crosses the Apennines.
41 M. Molino del Pallone. — 451/2 M. Pracchia, the highest
point on the line, is 2024 ft. above the sea-level.
A diligence runs twice daily from Pracchia to S. Marcello (about
2130 ft.; Pension Piccioli), via, Pontepetri, where it reaches the old Apen-
nine road connecting Florence and Pistoja with Modena (p. 299). The
road then continues to ascend (no regular public conveyance), partly by
steep windings, passing Cutigliano (2500 ft.; Mad. Jennings1 Pension) on
the right, to Boscolungo (Pensione di Serrabassa, open from 15th May to
15th Oct., 'pens.1 8-20 fr.; Locanda deW Abetone, 'pens.1 12 fr., both well
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