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The Valleys of Novellara in Emilia-Romagna

The lands of Novellara have constantly been subject to an age-old struggle between man and nature.
Formerly the whole northern part of the town (i.e. the "valleys") was actually invaded by wide swamps and feeded by riverbeds.
Beginning from the late Middle Ages and even more during the Renaissance, large land reclamations were carried out so as to progressively drain these marshes.
Nevertheless even today the local landscape shows signs of the old swamps.

As far as the tract of Novellara is concerned, it got moreover particular importance the demarcation line which bounded the territory north-and southwards, between the main town and the village of S. Giovanni della Fossa which represented the limit of the so called "hollow", i.e. that wide flooded and swampy area which lapped the city of Reggio.
Along this line there is the present-day Novellara main road no. 3 which clearly splits the old lived - from the recently reclaimed territories.

The building development of the valleys was deeply influenced by the territory evolution over the last centuries.
As a matter of fact the presence of wide swampy lands together with a strong gathering centre, represented by the Stronghold of Novellara, urged the scattered settlement of the farms which progressively developed near the reclaimed sites.

The interest shown by Gonzaga family to landcare and the reclamation of swampy stretches is still today symbolized by the two ancient palaces used as holidays destination and located both in the south and north of the main town.
The first one named "Casino di Sopra" (North Lodge) preserves most of the original architectural design; the second one known as "Casino di Sotto"(South Lodge) was subjected to considerable transformations.

Being one of the last damp area of Reggio, now this is a place rich of fauna. As well as the permanent species, in different times of the year there are also migratory bird species and as well day and night predatory birds find their natural habitat here.

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