Quartolo – km 92,8
The place name refers to the 4th mile of the Roman road. In 1959 numerous remains of a roman era villa came to light during agricultural work. Fragments of amphorae with rectangular collars (possibly produced by the kiln next to the very villa), hexagonal pieces of terracotta, fragments of a ceramic bell, a small bronze statue Constantine the Great and other pieces are all preserved in the International Ceramic Museum and are in storage in Palazzo Mazzolani in Faenza.
There are medieval references (in 972) to the “Curtis detta Quartuli”. Subsequently the locale became part of a castle called the “Castrum Quartuli” that was in all probability situated near the place now known as the “Olmatello” and was conceded in 1144 to the Church in Faenza by a decree by Pope Lucius II.
The castle of Quartolo owed allegiance to the churches of San Severo and San Cristoforo, as documented in 1120. A third ecclesiastical centre, “Santa Maria de Quartolo” is registered in the “Rationes Decimarum” of 1291 and it was dependant on the parish church of Pideura. Also in 1573 in a pastoral visit by Marchesini it was reported that 10 parishioners went to Santa Maria in Auri (Pideura) for baptisms as their church was still lacking a baptismal font. The current church, of some artistic interest, dates back to the 19th century. The author Metelli quotes a work by Medri that tells us that at in the past traces of a vast roman tomb were found between Rio Quartolo and Rio Quinto.
Piero Malpezzi
THE CHURCH OF THE MADONNA OF THE GRACES AT QUARTOLO OF BRISIGHELLA IN THE PINACOTECA OF FAENZA (only italian)
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