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History of Dozza

The origins of Dozza, the ancient Ducia or Dutia, go back many centuries. Inhabited since the Bronze Age, it was first colonised by the Gauls, then the Romans
In 1198, a Guelph-aligned Bologna managed to secure the village, causing an exodus of Ghibelline-aligned Dozza people. They sought refuge in Imola, building their homes in what is now aptly named via Case di Dozza. The borgo of Dozza was rebuilt in 1220 by order of Giovanni King of Jerusalem, the Pope’s envoy in Romagna. In 1222 it was again occupied by the Bolognese, in alliance with Faenza.
In 1310 the Bolognese, on the initiative of the war commissioner Romeo Pepoli, had the builders Arpino di Cantagallo and Bernardo di Montecatone reinforce the fortress that had been erected – or, more likely, rebuilt – by the Bolognese themselves in the mid 13th century; clear evidence of the work carried out under the sovereignty of Bologna still stands in the form of a tower (torrione dei Bolognesi).
That same year also saw the reinforcement of the rocchetta (a mini-fortress built in 1250 to defend the entrance tower to the village) with the addition of a Rivellino. Following bitter struggles between Guelph and Ghibelline factions, 1412 saw Dozza became the feud of the Alidosi and then the Riario families.
1494 the Rocca came under the control of Caterina Sforza, the wife of Girolamo Riario. During her government the fortress was bolstered again and provided with an efficient set of defences, designed by the military engineer Giorgio Marchesi. Those fortifications would later allow the Rocca to resist a month of repeated, violent attacks by Cesare Borgia, who finally gained possession of the castle in 1499.
A decisive turning point in the hamlet’s fortunes came in 1529 when, following a brief one-year domination by the Malvezzi family of Bologna, it was ceded by Pope Clement VII for 4,000 gold scudos and given as a feud to the Bologna-born Cardinal Lorenzo Campeggi, in recognition of services rendered as papal envoy to England (in a delicate period that, among other things, saw the scission between the Anglican and Roman churches).
Following the death of Lorenzo Campeggi, the last male of his family, the marquisate of Dozza was, in 1728, inherited by Francesca Maria Campeggi, the wife of Matteo Malvezzi: all feudal rights were thus transferred to the latter family, the surname of which, together with that of the extinct Campeggi, would henceforth form the inseparable double-barrelled Malvezzi-Campeggi.
In 1830 Dozza came back under the control of the Papal States and in 1861 it became an autonomous Comune following the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy.

The castle

The Rocca (Fortress) was built in 1250 by the Comune of Bologna and enlarged in 1310 by Romeo Pepoli. Its current appearance owes much to the architect Giorgio Marchesi who, in the late 1400s, reconstructed parts of the outer walls and reinforced the fortress with the main tower (the Torresino), a splendid example of late 15th century military architecture. This work – needed to modernise the original structure so it could resist firearms – resulted in the loss of much of the old medieval construction.
The fortress was finally opened to the public in 1960, when it was purchased by the Comune with the support of the Province of Bologna. In-depth restoration, financed by the Comune and the Region of Emilia Romagna was begun in 1999 and is still in progress.

The medieval hamlet

The village of Dozza, with its characteristic spindle shape, lies on the crest of a hill that overlooks the Sellustra valley and slopes gently down to the via Emilia.
The hamlet is essentially as it was in Medieval times: the imposing Rocca (fortress) at the apex of the village and the underlying residential area, neatly outlined by the ancient walls, immediately convey a sense of harmony between the works of man and those of nature.
By the 10th century Dozza already had Palazzo Pretorio, the Church, the homes of the tenant farmers, the smithy’s forge and the carpenter’s workshop.
Today, the borgo is still split by two parallel streets running from the village entranceway up to the open space in front of the Rocca. That entranceway consists of an archway completed in 1614. This arch was made in the 13th-14th century Rivellino, a circular defensive structure now partially buried together with the entire drawbridge.
Over time, the old layout of the medieval hamlet and the village walls underwent continuous modifications and improvements, right up to the time of the Signoria of Caterina Sforza. Today there remain only tracts of wall and a few bastions in between the buildings, yet the longitudinal layout of the streets, via XX Settembre and via De Amicis, formerly Contragrande and Contracina, remains intact.
Art as an integral part of the urban landscape, decorating the walls of houses, streets and squares, suggestively lighting up every angle of the hamlet: because Dozza is as much art as it is history. More precisely, it is the biennial art festival of the Muro Dipinto (Painted Wall), a unique September event in which artists paint the walls of the houses “live” before the public.

Gourmet

Dozza is the seat of the Regional Emilia Romagna, located in the ancient fortress overlooking the village. On this basis it should be mentioned among the typical products and wines from the wide choice available to the territory, to quote one of the white Albana and Trebbiano, while among the red Sangiovese. The main course is usually meat, preferably grilled cheese while among the wide choice ranging from fresh and soft cheese (squacquerone and stracchino) aged cheeses such as pecorino di fossa. In relation to the above are distributed throughout several distributors of raw milk daily fresh and genuine. Finally it is important to stress the high quality and wide choice of bread, biscuits and cakes produced by the countless bakeries, craft or not, on land as well as the famous piadine crescentine fried and on all festive occasions in the area.

Compagnia del gusto Srl
Via Monte del Re 43 40050 Dozza (Bologna) P.I. 02652291200 Tel 0542 678556 Fax 0542 679566

C & C Hotellerie Srl
Via Monte del Re 43 40050 Dozza (Bologna) P.I. e C.F. 02864891201

cavina@ristorantemontedelre.it

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