Municipalities: Municipalities:Comune di Solarolo
Address: Via Borgo Bennoli
A mill built in 1397 and active for six hundred years.
Description: The Mill was built under the dominion of Bologna and activated in 1397 and continued its activity for six hundred long years. In the building of the Mill of Solarolo, it is still possible to identify the ancient nucleus, probably that built after the restructuring works of 1532-34: on this occasion a brand new portico on the eastern side was installed. According to the Napoleonic-Pontifical land register of the first half of the 1800’s, the building is of two storeys and has six rooms on the ground floor and another six on the first floor. The view from the mountain gives us the possibility to still see more or less ancient products for the supply and adjustment of water. From left to right, the first is an inlet with grass-stopping grille, now silted; then there is an older, vaulted inlet to the right of which we can find the pit used by the spillway. During the early 1900’s the mill was re-modernised with vapour and acetylene motors that required the construction of an incinerator, which still existed up until about 1940. The land census of 1940 and the land register map of 1937 contain several variations: on the western side, a room was added for the primitive cylindrical plant; on the south-western corner there is now the electrical cabin, whilst the central body of the structure remains the same, where on the upper floor there was a storeroom and on the front of the structure is a roof. Modifications to the residence were made after 1945.The last changes derive from the renovation of the milling plants, which took place between 1967 and 1969. This new status is still the same and is characterised by the addition of a four storey tower on the northern side for a cylindrical plant and a 12 metre high silo, positioned to the left and then to the right of the canal respectively. Inside the two millstones have been removed and replaced with a rolling mill for corn (in the ground floor), whilst slight variations have been made to the front body.
Directions: Upon arrival at Solarolo from Castel Bolognese along the provincial road of Canale dei Mulini, follow the canal until reaching Piazza dei Caduti. Turn left into via Borgo Bennoli, the mill is on the left.
