View source for Marzabotto

{{Infobox Italian comune
| name                = Marzabotto
| official_name       = Comune di Marzabotto
| native_name         =
| image_skyline       = Marzabotto1.JPG
| imagesize           = 
| image_alt           = 
| image_caption       = Marzabotto acropolis
| image_shield        = Marzabotto-Stemma.png
| shield_alt          = 
| shield_size         = 100px
| image_map           = 
| map_alt             = 
| map_caption         = 
| pushpin_label_position = 
| pushpin_map_alt     = 
| coordinates         = {{coord|44|20|20|N|11|12|20|E|region:IT_type:city(6491)|display=inline}}
| coordinates_footnotes = 
| region              = [[Emilia-Romagna]]
| metropolitan_city   = [[Metropolitan City of Bologna|Bologna]] (BO)
| frazioni            = see [[#Frazioni|list]]
| mayor_party         = 
| mayor               = [[Valentina Cuppi]]
| area_footnotes      = 
| area_total_km2      = 74
| population_footnotes = 
| population_total    = 6826
| population_as_of    = 30 September 2017
| pop_density_footnotes = 
| population_demonym  = Marzabottesi
| elevation_footnotes = 
| elevation_m         = 130
| twin1               = 
| twin1_country       = 
| saint               = [[Saint Joseph]] and Saint Charles <ref>There are several saints called [[Saint Charles (disambiguation)|Charles]] (Italian: ''San Carlo''). None of their [[feast day]]s is on March 19, so this may be a local saint. Alternatively, the local church may contain relics of one of the known Saint Charles.</ref>
| day                 = March 19
| postal_code         = 52100
| area_code           = 051
| website             = {{official website|http://www.comune.marzabotto.bo.it}}
| footnotes           = 
}}
'''Marzabotto''' ([[Bolognese dialect|Medial Mountain Bolognese]]: {{lang|egl|Marzabòt}}) is a small town and ''[[comune]]'' in [[Italy|Italian]] region [[Emilia-Romagna]], part of the [[Metropolitan City of Bologna]]. It is located {{convert|27|km|mi}} south-southwest of [[Bologna]] by rail, and lies in the valley of the [[River Reno|Reno]]. The area includes the site of an ancient Etruscan city and also the place  of a modern [[Marzabotto massacre|massacre]] that took place there during [[World War II]].

==Etruscan city==

In and below the grounds of the [[Villa Aria]], close to the city, are the remains of an [[Etruscan civilization|Etruscan]] town of the 5th century BC, [[Kainua]], protected on the west by the mountains, on the south-east by the river, which by a change of course has destroyed about half of it.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://pleiades.stoa.org/places/393448 |title=Places: 393448 (Marzabotto) |author=Pearce, M., R. Peretto, P. Tozzi, DARMC, R. Talbert, S. Gillies, T. Elliott, J. Becker |accessdate=March 12, 2016  |publisher=Pleiades}}</ref><ref name="Haynes2005">{{cite book|author=Sybille Haynes|author-link=Sybille Haynes|title=Etruscan Civilization: A Cultural History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hJL69xHDTwEC&pg=PA188|date=1 September 2005|publisher=Getty Publications|isbn=978-0-89236-600-2|pages=188–}}</ref> The [[acropolis]] was just below the [[villa]]: here remains of [[temple]]s were found.

The town lay below the modern high-road and was laid out on a rectangular plan divided by main streets into eight quarters, and these in turn into blocks or insulae.<ref name="Banti1973">{{cite book|author=Luisa Banti|title=Etruscan Cities and Their Culture|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3zzu5EjrCrsC&pg=PA9|year=1973|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-01910-2|pages=9–}}</ref> [[Necropolis|Necropoleis]] were found on the east and north of the site.<ref name="BernardiniCamporeale2004">{{cite book|author1=Paolo Bernardini|author2=Giovannangelo Camporeale|title=The Etruscans Outside Etruria|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KWVQOcpVuZoC&pg=PA182|year=2004|publisher=Getty Publications|isbn=978-0-89236-767-2|pages=182–}}</ref> The place was partially inhabited later by the [[Gauls]], but was not occupied by the [[Ancient Rome|Romans]].<ref>The Etruscan town of Marzabotto Archaeological site and National Etruscan Museum "Pompeo Aria" http://www.archeobologna.beniculturali.it/marzabotto/note_en.htm</ref>
{{Gallery
|height=150
|align=left
|Marzabotto3.JPG|Map of the Etruscan site
|Marzabotto2.JPG|Remains of Etruscan temples at Marzabotto
|Marzabotto - Etruscan necropolis.jpg|Remains of Etruscan necropolis at Marzabotto
}}
{{clear|left}}
==World War II massacre==

{{main|Marzabotto massacre}}
On September 29, 1944, during the [[World War II]] German occupation of Italy, the town was the site of the worst massacre of civilians committed by the Waffen SS in Italy.<ref name="Mikaberidze2013">{{cite book|author=Alexander Mikaberidze|title=Atrocities, Massacres, and War Crimes: An Encyclopedia &#91;2 Volumes&#93;: An Encyclopedia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jVqqAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA441|date=25 June 2013|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-59884-926-4|pages=441–}}</ref> In reprisal of the local support given to the partisans and the resistance movement, soldiers of the SS-Panzer-Aufklärungsabteilung 16, killed systematically hundreds of civilians in Marzabotto, and in the adjacent Grizzana Morandi and Monzuno.<ref name="Cawthorne2012">{{cite book|author=Nigel Cawthorne|title=The Story of the SS|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_SAEAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT142|date=24 July 2012|publisher=Arcturus Publishing|isbn=978-1-84858-947-6|pages=142–}}</ref>
The town was awarded the [[Gold Medal of Military Valour]] for this episode.
Sculptor [[Nicola Zamboni]] created a large monument in the city in 1975 in front of the town hall.<ref name="Galmozzi1986">{{cite book |title=Monumenti alla libertà: antifascismo, resistenza e pace nei monumenti italiani dal 1945 al 1985|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UhBPAAAAYAAJ|author=Luciano Galmozzi|publisher=La Pietra|page=152|year=1986}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}
* {{EB1911|wstitle=Marzabotto}}

==External links==
* [http://www2.fci.unibo.it/~baccolin/montovolo-retreat-5.html The Two Etruscan Necropolis of Marzabotto and their Sacred Ties with Montovolo] by [[Graziano Baccolini]]

{{Province of Bologna}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Cities and towns in Emilia-Romagna]]
[[Category:Archaeological sites in Emilia-Romagna]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Gold Medal of Military Valor]]