Granaglione

Granaglione is located in the valley of the Randaragna stream in the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines, in the municipality of Alto Reno Terme, 67 km away from Bologna.

It is considered one of the greenest places in Europe. It is the southernmost locality in the province of Bologna, bordering with Tuscany (municipalities of Pistoia and Sambuca Pistoiese), from which it is separated by the course of the Reno River and the Orsigna stream, one of its left-hand tributaries, while the Rio Maggiore river marks its border with Porretta Terme.

The territory mainly extends on the steep slopes of the mountains that crown the Reno Valley to the west, spreading into less jagged heights only in the area of Borgo Capanne, Varano, Madognana, where the last spurs of Mount Granaglione slope more gently toward Porretta. Here the better lie and exposure of the land allow agricultural cultivation. The remaining land is covered with chestnut, beech or coniferous forests, with an extension among the largest in the province in relation to its total area. The long arenaceous slope to the left of the Reno Valley is furrowed by innumerable watercourses, but only one valley of note, in terms of basin size and population, that of the Randaragna stream, which flows into the Reno just above the village of Molino del Pallone.

It should also be mentioned that the Granaglione mountains hide a very beautiful and appreciated mineral: the quartz, in the variety known throughout the world as "Porretta quartz".