2nd STAGE

Rastignano - Zena Pianoro

22,5 km

DISTANCE

7:30 AM

term

905/-808

DIFFERENCE IN HEIGHT

PATH

General information

This stage takes you out of the city and into a truly sparsely populated area, the Val di Zena, with beautiful views that are largely due to the ancient presence of the sea in these areas.

From the church of Rastignano, you climb towards Monte Calvo, passing alongside the ancient furnace and the cemetery.

At the top of the hill, near the altar dedicated to Mater Pacis, a beautiful 360° panorama offers views of much of the route, the Pliocene Buttress, and many areas that were the scene of battles during the Second World War.

From there we head towards the valley, in the footsteps of Fantini, a key figure in the history of the Bolognese Apennines.

Towards the end of the stage, we pass through the charming abandoned village of Gorgognano and subsequently visit the site where a Pliocene-era whale was found, a place celebrated today by a sculpture depicting it.

What to see

Whale of the Zena Valley

In the Zena Valley lies a unique monument, created by students of the Academy of Fine Arts in Bologna: a majestic nine-meter whale that tells the ancient history of this area. Its shape evokes the remains of a true specimen of Balaenoptera Aucutorostrata, discovered by chance by a farmer in this very area. Dating back to the Pliocene, between 2 and 5 million years ago, this fossil represents precious evidence of the profound transformations the valley has undergone over the millennia. The monument is not only a work of art, but also a symbol of the geological and natural memory of the Zena Valley, which still holds extraordinary stories and secrets.