Church of the Madonna del Pilar

In Madonna di Villanova, a hamlet near Castenaso, stands the Church of the Madonna del Pilar, built on grounds belonging to the Collegio di Spagna.

In the sanctuary’s magnificent baroque interior, there is the miraculous image of the Virgin by Giovanni Battista Bolognini (1699).

In this church, Gioacchino Rossini in March 16 1822 celebrated his first marriage to the soprano Isabella Colbran. The couple lived for about ten years in a villa next to the church, and it was here that the Maestro composed works such as “Semiramide” and “Guglielmo Tell”.

Of Villa Rossini today there remains only a particular well. Colbran is buried in the monumental cemetery of the Certosa in Bologna, in the company of other great musicians, from Farinelli to Ottorino Respighi