Borgo di Colle Ameno
Born from a project of enlightenment by Filippo Carlo Ghisilieri, Borgo di Colle Ameno is presented as a complex of red buildings; the initial idea was to create an ideal autonomous city, a center of culture and art, scientific experimentation and craft activities, a core of urban development that included shops, a hospital, stables, warehouses, warehouses, a church, a pottery factory, and of course the manor house with its outbuildings. The baroque oratory, dating back to 1700 and dedicated to Sant'Antonio da Padova is unique in its kind; cruciform in plan, the external facade, which included the hospital, is characterized by two entrance portals and a high bell tower under which is painted a clock. Inside you can see paintings, frescoes, wooden altars and sculptures made by the masters Angelo Gabriello Piò and Mauro Aldrovandini. In 1944, during the Second World War, a camp was established in the village, where the Nazis collected civilians to be used as labor, both for the construction of the Gothic Line and to be transferred to Germany. After the war, graves were found with the remains of 21 people. To remember the victims, a Memory Room was built, in which documents and objects of the period are displayed, which can be visited during guided tours. The village of Colle Ameno is still inhabited, the spaces for craft workshops have been recovered. You can still see one of the original activities of the village: the realization of the ancient ceramics of Colle Ameno white and blue with naturalistic decorations.
Il rilancio del Borgo
During the Second World War, Colle Ameno was used by the German army as air force support, military hospital and as a prison camp and sorting center. Male civilians aged 17 to 55 were rounded up, living in three categories: the younger and more physically fit were sent to work camps in Germany, The older but still fit for work were used by the Germans to build fortifications and trenches and to lay mines along the Gothic line, the disabled or sick were shot. The testimonies indicate that the rooms on the ground floor of the central part of Villa Davia were used as a prison. On the walls of the building some civilians have written with pieces of charcoal their name and surname, sometimes the date and place of residence. Images, testimonies and artefacts are kept in the Memory Hall, a multimedia documentation and consultation centre and a didactic path from the twentieth fascist year to today.
The revival of the village
The recovery of the village, by the Municipality of Sasso Marconi, began in the 90s and until now has covered: the housing, some craft shops, a tavern, the original Villa Davia and part of the Ghisilieri, as well as educational and museum spaces including the Memory Hall. With the architectural recovery of Villa Davia and the opening of new art spaces, the Municipality intends to return Colle Ameno to its former splendor, recreating the conditions existing in the '700, when the village was known for its cultural vitality.
The project involves the implementation of initiatives aimed at enhancing the Borgo di Colle Ameno in a perspective of promotion and innovation, imagining Colle Ameno as a kind of 'ideal city' where, just like a time, it is possible to see artisans and artists working, to visit exhibitions, to carry out initiatives that can restore the village a central role in the cultural life of the city, making it at the same time a place of interest for tourists and visitors.
Le Botteghe
Le Botteghe
Visitare il Borgo
L'Osteria
Sala delle Decorazioni
Ufficio Informazioni Turistiche Comune di Sasso Marconi
Via Porrettana 314, 40037 Sasso Marconi
Tel: 051 6758409 | Cel: 334 8334945 | info@infosasso.it
