Witnesses of the time

Survivors of the history and bad weather of the past, there are several monumental trees that have embellished the territory of Loiano for centuries. In the ancient park of Palazzo Loup (formerly Villa delle Fratte), in the locality of Scanello, a centuries-old Cedro Deodara, about 22 m high, and a majestic Taxus Baccata, about 700 years old, are veterans of important historical events that have marked the history of the nation: from the visit of Pope Pius VII in 1805, returning from France after the coronation of Emperor Napoleon I, to the bombings of the Second World War, which damaged part of them and mutilated the long row of cypresses of the villa, of which only two examples remain.Silent and solemn, with powerful hair and twisted arms, are also the characteristic secular chestnut trees of Loiano, a reminder of Matildic history and a symbol of the mountain tradition of the whole Emilia-Romagna Apennines. We are not only talking about natural heritage, but also about important climate change mitigators. The Castanicoltori Consortium of the Bolognese Apennines is well aware of this, which for years has been proposing and collaborating on initiatives and projects such as Castanea, aimed at revitalizing chestnut cultivation, and CASTANI-CO, dedicated to carbon sequestration.