Via della Grada
Located close to the city's ring roads, Via della Grada owes its name to the grata ('grada' in Bolognese and grating in English) that still stands at the end of the street, and which was the point of access to the city via the Reno Canal.
It is precisely near the grata that the waters of the canal, an artificial branch of the Reno river, flow into the centre of Bologna. The city is actually crossed by a network of underground canals, now covered, that allowed goods and people to pass through the urban fabric. The grating therefore served to control and limit such access, and was lowered by guards especially at night to prevent the introduction of illegal goods into the city.
The name of the street is actually quite recent, as until the 18th century it was called Via Riva Reno, of which it is a continuation. In addition to the grating just described, the name change is also due to the presence of the church of Santa Maria e San Valentino della Grada, still present at the end of the street.
What to see in Via della Grada
Erected on the site where the oratory of the congregation of St. Anthony of Padua stood in the 17th century, the church of Santa Maria e San Valentino della Grada is worth a visit as it houses the relics of St. Valentine the Martyr.
Not far from the church, however, is another important building, recently reopened to the public: the
Opificio della Grada. In addition to hosting temporary exhibitions on the history of Bolognese canals, the opificio is home to one of Bologna's most interesting hydraulic works used as a mill from 1681, the year it was built.
Originally, the mill served a
leather tannery, the proceeds of which financed part of the factory of the
Basilica of San Petronio, still under construction at the time. Between the 19th and 20th century, the factory was converted into the site of a very powerful
hydroelectric power plant, so much so that it was able to supply energy to the Rizzoli Orthopaedic Hospital, which at that time was beginning to perform its first X-rays. The power station was later decommissioned in 1926.
When the canal still flowed in the open, there were once wide steps around the factory on which the washerwomen sat to wash their clothes in the Reno water. This
wash-house was one of the busiest in Bologna, because being close to the entrance of the Reno into the city, the water was undoubtedly cleaner than in other areas of the city centre where, for example, the effluent from mills and houses flowed.
