Dozza is a small town of very ancient origins located on a hill near Imola and Bologna, between the village of Toscanella (which is rich in ancient remains) and the Sillaro river.
The principal historic monument in Dozza is the fortress. According to experts the Fortress of Dozza dates from 1250. It was then destroyed during conflicts with Bologna and later restored by Romeo Pepoli in 1310, also at the command of Bologna.
The reconstruction of Dozza occurred in one of the most terrible moments of the history of Bologna, which was in desperate need of money to restore the city’s infrastructure, the fortresses around it and especially the area devastated by the war against Ferrara (at that time ruled by Azzo d’Este) and by repeated flooding events.
The flooding was often intentionally caused by Ferrara as part of a plan to starve Bologna and its suburbs. And it worked perfectly, because Bologna around 1310 suffered one of the worst economic crisis of its history and the peasants had to abandon their homes, fields, castles and villages to escape the famine and debts. Bologna had recourse to Romeo Pepoli…
Romeo Pepoli was the Bolognese banker and usurer mentioned by the chronicler Giovanni Villani as almost the unique master of Bologna, and perhaps the richest citizen of Italy at that time. He became the pivot point of the financial reconstruction of Bologna, as his presence and consent became an essential condition for any building program to be approved by the communal institutions that routinely had to rely on his financial resources.
Thanks to him, for example, the castles of Nonantola and Crevalcore were restored to safeguard the Bolognese border with Modena (12). Also the castle of Dozza was restored by Romeo Pepoli who obtained “full powers to carry out necessary work" from the Bolognese authority council (Braidi, p. 262).
Later, the castle was again restored in 1494 by the Florentine architect Giorgio Marchesi on behalf of Caterina Sforza (1463-1509).
