Apennines, land of inventors, artists and scientists

Besides that of natural beauty and ancient and picturesque villages, there is another Apennine to discover. In the Reno Valley, among hills and mountains, "shine" the stars of three illustrious and fascinating personalities of science and art. And curiously enough, their last names all begin with the same letter. This itinerary will guide you to discover the places where Guglielmo Marconi, Giorgio Morandi, Cesare Mattei lived and expressed their talents.

Marconi Museum

Just under half an hour from the center of Bologna, along the Via Porrettana, in Pontecchio Marconi, stands Villa Griffone with the Mausoleum below dedicated to the scientist Guglielmo Marconi, inventor of wireless telegraphy, which led to the extraordinary invention of radio. The striking villa houses inside the Marconi Museum where it is possible to admire working reproductions of early apparatus, original pieces of Marconian industrial activity and the attic where the inventor set up his first laboratory. The interesting exhibit also includes interactive tools that illustrate the golden age of the first long-distance transmissions by electromagnetic waves, making the visitor relive the Marconian epic and other personalities (including his "rivals") of the time.

Morandi House Museum

Remaining on the via Porrettana and ascending for about 30 kilometers, you will reach first Vergato and then, diverting, Grizzana Morandi. At the entrance to the town is the Morandi House Museum where painter Giorgio Morandi, among the most fascinating artistic personalities of the 20th century, lived and worked. The guided tour is particularly exciting also because, by the will of the artist's sister who donated it to the municipality, nothing inside has been altered. Morandi's "dinette" and studio, in particular, seem as if suspended in time, at the instant when the artist laid down his paintbrush for the last time. During the visit, looking through the windows it seems possible to imagine the emotions and the creative process of the artist who, observing the surroundings and the landscape, drew inspiration for some of his works. Leaving the building, a few meters away you will find the Fienili del Campiaro, so many times painted by the Master, and today home to exhibitions and the Museum of Giorgio Morandi's student.

Rocchetta Mattei

A short drive will lead you to Riola, and the view of the Rocchetta with its unmistakable pinnacles is awe-inspiring. Count Cesare Mattei purchased the land in 1850. In the same year he began the construction of the castle on the ruins of the ancient fortress of Savignano and settled there in 1859. At first intending to build a neo-medieval-style fortress, the Count personally developed the castle project, gradually incorporating different influences and styles that blend together in an extraordinary example of eclecticism. The Rocchetta, besides being Mattei's residence, can also be considered the cradle of electrohomeopathy (a therapy based on the combination of medicated granules and liquids called "electric fluids" that he invented) that had international resonance. A fame that did not distract the Count from his other "creature" that he continued to enrich and modify until his death. It is also to this incessant work that we owe the incredible heterogeneity and originality of the Rocchetta, a fusion of styles, symbols and references to myths from very different times and cultures that fascinates the visitor so much, even today.