NONANTOLA

Dopo tanti secoli il tempo e gli eventi non hanno alterato la maestosità delle strutture abbaziali dove l’essenzialità delle architetture e le suggestioni delle silenziose penombre invitano al raccoglimento.

Nel Museo Benedettino di Arte Sacra si possono ammirare rare opere d’arte realizzate da valenti artisti del passato fra cui la Santa Croce che contiene un frammento della vera Croce, testimonianze di profonda e diffusa religiosità.

Il Museo di Nonantola, realizzato nella austera Torre dei Bolognesi, racconta con sapiente ordine cronologico la storia di Nonantola, dai primordi ai nostri giorni, compresi gli eventi del 1943 di Villa Emma, quando la comunità nonantolana fu protagonista di alte prove di civile solidarietà.

Un evento di portata storica risalente al 1058, fu la Charta dell’Abate Godescalco che concesse in enfiteusi Silvae, Pascua, Paludes a 22 famiglie nonantolane.

Le stesse famiglie, accomunate nella Partecipazione Agraria di Nonantola, ancora oggi ne usufruiscono tramite una periodica procedura di assegnazione a rotazione.

Le terre di competenza della Partecipazione Agraria, dell’ampiezza di circa 764 ettari, situate nelle vicinanze dell’abitato, rappresentano un esempio illuminato che prova sia possibile conciliare le esigenze della produzione con il rispetto dell’ambiente.

Mi auguro che questo libro sappia contribuire a stimolare l’interesse verso il grande patrimonio di bellezza, di storia, di religiosità e di civismo, retaggi di casa nostra.

Gianfranco Levoni

 

Once again this year, although constrained by limitations due to the pandemic, I continued to expand my series of photo books devoted to cities, which, with this latest addition, now amount to 18 volumes.

It was an opportunity to discover the many treasures just around the corner, which, in the bustle of everyday life, I have neglected over the years.

So I chose Nonantola: a town of around 16,000 inhabitants located 10 kilometres from Modena.

The town’s first settlements date back to the Bronze Age, when the large marshy area was frequently impacted by flooding from the Panaro river.

In the Roman period, thanks to centuriation (the town’s name derives from “Nonatula”, meaning ninety centuriae), the marshes were restored and began to be extensively cultivated.

The original rural village became more important when the Lombard king Aistulf granted land to his brother-in-law Anselm, who founded a Benedictine abbey.

The monks carried out extensive work to reclaim the land that had been abandoned during the barbarian invasions.

The Benedictine community developed to the point that it became one of the most important monastic centres in Europe, as documented by numerous parchments belonging to eminent historical figures such as Charlemagne, Lotarius, Matilda of Tuscany and various popes, preserved in the abbey’s historical archive.

After many centuries, time and events have not impaired the magnificence of the abbey structures, where the simple architecture and evocative silent shadows invite us to pause and reflect.

In the Benedictine Museum of Sacred Art we can admire rare works of art created by talented artists from the past including the Holy Cross, which contains a fragment of the True Cross, evidence of deep and widespread religiosity.

Nonantola Museum, housed in the imposing Torre dei Bolognesi, carefully illustrates the history of Nonantola, from its origins to the present day, including the events of 1943 at Villa Emma, when the community of Nonantola demonstrated remarkable civic solidarity.

A notable historic event took place in 1058: the Charta of Abbot Godescalco, which granted, in a perpetual contract, Silvae, Pascua, Paludes (woods, meadows and marshes) to 22 families from Nonantola.

The same families, united within the Partecipazione Agraria di Nonantola collective, still use this land today through a periodic rotational allocation system.

The land belonging to the Partecipazione Agraria, which amounts to around 764 hectares located near the town, is an enlightened example which proves that production needs can be reconciled with respect for the environment.

I hope that this book will help to arouse interest in this great heritage of beauty, history, religiosity and civic spirit, the legacies of our home.

Gianfranco Levoni