The Mill
The northern façade of the Palazzo connects to the mill buildings and the workers’ housing of the Pizzardi Estate, forming a layout vaguely resembling a horseshoe. Facing what was once the mill square, a pulley on the wall marks the spot where sacks of grain were hoisted up to the fourth floor. There, the grains were washed before being transferred via chutes and hoppers to the grinding stones located on the lower floors.
In the entrance hall, designed for the passage of carts and trucks, one can identify the routes used for delivering grains, along with chutes and outlets where sacks of flour and bulk flour would descend, respectively.
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The mill has a very ancient history.
In the 14th century, it belonged to Guido Lambertini. Later, it passed to the Bentivoglio family, who had built their power on the politics of bread. In 1817, it was acquired by the Pizzardi family. At the end of the 19th century, Carlo Alberto Pizzardi transformed the structure and modernized its machinery, purchasing equipment from the Alessandro Calzoni company. In the 1920s, the Administration of Bologna Hospitals, which had inherited the Marquis Pizzardi’s assets, carried out further modernizations of the milling facility. The proto-industrial complex, which consisted of a low-grinding mill, a high-grinding mill, and a rice hulling mill, was severely damaged by the explosion of a mine placed by German soldiers in the nearby tower of the Bentivoglio Castle on April 21, 1945.
Even today, on the branch of the canal that once powered the mill’s blades, the absence of those structures is evident. However, their memory lives on in a letter by Giulia De Rham, wife of the Swiss agronomist who managed the Pizzardi Estate in the 1920s. Upon their arrival in Bentivoglio, the De Rham family encountered the swing bridge closed to allow a barge to pass near the mill.
That moment deeply moved Giulia, turning into tender memories:
“When the carriage reached the top of the embankment, we found the bridge closed for the passing of a barge, and this was the most original and pleasant welcome Bentivoglio could have given us. A few minutes of waiting allowed us to immediately appreciate how enchanting, joyful, and serene the scene before us was. The mill square, separated from us only by the Navile Canal, stood clearly visible, revealing all its charm. As we crossed the bridge, I noticed that the mysterious allure of that place had moved us all. I wanted to shout out the joy I felt at the sound of the rushing water and the grinding millstones.” e”.
Textual content curated by Marianna Biondi
For further reading, see M. Biondi, La pila da riso di Bentivoglio, in ScuolaOfficina, XLIII, no. 1/2024, the journal of the Museum of Industrial Heritage of Bologna, available at the Bentivoglio municipal library.
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