It is a town in the province of Forlì-Cesena, whose name derives, in first part, from the ancient Roman family "Sabiniana", while the second part was originally conceived by Benito Mussolini in 1933, that ended the old controversy, attributing in Savignano, the place over the historic river, remembered for the passage of the troops of Caesar, who uttered here, the historic phrase "Alea iacta est" (the die is cast).
The first settlement was built where later emerged the Via Emilia, in the first century B.C. The Romans built here a bridge over the river Rubicon, which survived unscathed for 2000 years, until, in the Second World War, the Germans in retreat, blew it up with dynamite.
After the fall of the Roman Empire and the Barbarian invasions of the Italian peninsula, the population shifted gradually from the coast towards inland, hoping to find more shelter and built a castle in a strategic position on the Rubicone. In 1085, the town submitted the domain of a certain Alberto Savignano, heir of a noble family of Bologna. The construction of a first urban center dates back to 1359, ordered by Cardinal Albornoz, while in 1500, the town was ceded to the Borgias. Later it submitted the rule of the Serenissima Republic of Venice and the Papal States.
Sites of Interest:
- the Roman Bridge, which is not only the oldest monument in the city, but it is most important symbol of Savignano. Three arches, that connect the two shores of the river Rubicone. Made in the Roman Republican era (according to some historians, it was built simultaneously with the Via Emilia), remained intact until the Second World War, when German troops destroyed it. Fortunately it was rebuilt using the same trapezoidal blocks, recovered from the river bed, between 1963 and 1965;
- the Parish Church of San Giovanni in Compito, already mentioned in documents of the VII century, features a very ancient structure located where once stood a Roman settlement. Destroyed in the VIII century, during clashes between the Byzantines and the Lombards, it was built between the X and the XI centuries, in a style similar to the one used for important buildings in Ravenna;
- the baroque Church of Suffrage (or S.S. Salvatore), in which were buried the members of the Society of Suffrage;
- the Church of St. Benedict, built near the ancient monastery of the Camaldolese;
- the Church of San Rocco, built by the local inhabitants to ward off the plague. It contains a precious wooden crucifix;
- the XVI century Church of the Holy Trinity;
- the XVIII century Collegiate Church of Saint Lucia, in which are preserved some remarkable artworks of that period;
- the Castle of Ribano, situated on the hill, built in the Middle Ages as a fortified "curtis", with the Camaldolese, it became an important stronghold, until the abolition of the ecclesiastical orders by Napoleon. Today it is home to a winery;
- the old Pawnshop;
- the Town Hall;
- Villa La Rotonda, designed by Leandro Marconi, which was inspired by the Palladian villas.