SANTA SOFIA

HYSTORY
  
The heyday of this area of the Bidente valley was during the Middle Ages and later, with the annexation to the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. During the modern age the territory was divided into the two municipalities of Santa Sofia and Mortano, then merged in 1923 and incorporated in the province of Forlì.
In the basin of the upper Bidente, with the green ridges of the Apennines, the city core is immediately downstream of the reunited branches of the river (Corniolo, Ridracoli and Pietrapazza). S. Sofia is now the seat of Parco Nazionale delle Foreste Casentinesi, Monte Farlterona e Campigna community.
  
USEFUL NUMBERS

• Culture Office: tel. 0543 974551 0543 975428-29
• Tourist Information and National Park Visitor Centre, Via Nefetti 3: tel. 0543 970249
• Parco Nazionale delle Foreste Casentinesi, Monte Falterona e Campigna board: tel. 0543 971375
• Pro Loco: S. Sofia: Piazza Matteotti, 1; Corniolo/ Campigna: Via della Madonna - Corniolo; Spinello: Via Centro 2 - Spinello
• State Forestry Corps, loc. Campigna tel. 0543 980174; Corniolo tel. 0543 980025

 
PLACES TO SEE

• Piazza Matteotti, with the Oratory of the Crucifix, the Town Hall and Palazzo Giorgi
• National Park Visitor Centre (learning and suggestions "rooms", history "corridor"), themed on the "Forest"
• “Vero Stoppioni” Contemporary Art Gallery: collection of contemporary artworks gathered in over more than 50-year history of the Campigna prize. Section dedicated to Mattia Moreni with the huge polymeric work “La Mistura” and five large portraits
• Parco della Resistenza and River Park; in the river Bidente, sculpture park with works by internationally renowned artists, who experience the relationship between man and environment
• Church of St. Pietro in Corniolo, with sixteenth century precious works of art (terracotta by Giovanni della Robbia)
• Shrine of the Madonna degli Occhi in Collina of Pondo, with the nearby source believed to be miraculous for eye diseases
• SPORTILIA, in Spinello resort, sports centre for training camps 

THE SORROUNDINGS
 

• Hiking along the trails of the park, even within the wonderful Campigna forest and the GEA path (Monte Falterona, Arno sources, Camaldoli Hermitage)
• In winter, cross-country and downhill skiing in Monte Falco (the highest peak of the Tosco-Romagnolo Appennine)
• Giardino della Flora dell’Appenino Romagnolo (Valbonella, 2 km from Corniolo): green museum "en plein air" with more than 500 arboreal species and picnic equipped area
• Nature Trail in"Fosso dell'Abetio" in Campigna
• Summit of Mount Aiola (Spinello): view on the Adriatic coast

GASTRONOMY AND WINES: SMELLS AND TASTES
 
Fruitful meeting between local and Tuscan cuisine, the tradition of Santa Sofia offers delicious typical products such as tortelli alla lastra, the “crazy” sausage (ciavar), raviggiolo cheese, the bracciatello, and the panina (typical Easter dessert).
  
FAIRS, FESTIVALS, EVENTS

• Feast of the Epiphany, groups of “Befanotti” animate the houses, streets and squares of S. Sofia and villages: 5^th January
• Easter Monday Fair, traditional fair-market: Easter Monday
• Fires in May, propitiatory bonfires and young music: 30^th April
• Buskers Festival, Festival of street artists, performances enliven the city centre during the three days of mid-August (13^th-14^th-15^th); On 12 ^th August preview in Corniolo: 12^th-13^th-14^th-15^th August
• Feast of St. Paolo in Alpe, traditional festival in one of the most charming places of the Park: Last Sunday of June
• "Wood at the table. Artisans and woodsmen in Campigna" with unloading demonstration in the forest, workshops, artisans, food booths: third Sunday in August
• Campigna Prize, event dedicated to contemporary art: Autumn