Brisighella.org

Its origins go back to the end of the 13th century, when Maghinardo Pagani built the first important castle of the Lamone Valley on one of the three peaks of selenite, a gypsum rock.

In the 14th century the Manfredi, Lords of Faenza, started to build a bigger castle on another peak; 200 years later the Venetians conquered it and gave the castle the present look.

The village is made up of ancient lanes and streets, remains of defensive walls and stairways carved into the chalky rocks.

The Ancient Via del Borgo, a covered street dated at the 14thth century with arched open windows of different sizes, was a defensive bulwark for the medieval citadel at the back.

This street is world famous for the very nature of its extraordinary architecture, and is also called “Via degli Asini” (Donkeys Alley) for the cover it supplied to the many carts and donkeys which used it in the past.

Brisighella boasts the birth of eight cardinals and has many sacred buildings: the most important of which is Pieve di San Giovanni In Ottavo, (Pieve Tho’ in the local dialect), this church, built in the 5th century and rebuilt around the 11th and the 12th, is so called because it is located on the 8th mile of the ancient Roman route between Faenza and Florence.