Festa della Liberazione al Casone del Partigiano

Where: Casone del Partigiano, via Castello, località Rubizzano - 40018 San Pietro in Casale (BO),

When: April 24 and 25, 2018

73 years after the end of the Second World War, the Casone del Partigiano (Partisan's big house) remains an important symbol of the Resistance Memory in the Bolognese Plains. Here, in the same place where Partisans took shelter during their revolt against Germans and Fascists, the Italian Liberation Day of April 25th assumes a stronger and deeper meaning.

The celebration will begin on the evening of Tuesday 24 April with Resisting Sounds: music bands, a bookshop, entertainments and culture aroun the Partisan's Casone.

On Wednesday April 25, in the early afternoon, a ciclata (bike ride) for Resistance will retrace some of the iconic places of the Resistance in the Bolognese Plain and reach the Remembrance Park, where there will be a snack area set up by local senior centres distributing crescentine and drinks to all the participants.

The new Remembrance Museum that was set up last year inside the Casone will be open for guided tours. A narration made of voices and sounds will enable the visitors to lose themselves in the atmosphere of the Resistance period. Audio diffusion tracks will recall the most important moments of the Resistance in the Bolognese Plain: the battle in the Casone of April 1945, the Operation Herring and the decision to repulse the Germans in order to avoid the bombing.

Finally, inside the new pavilion, it is possible to visit the new itinerary composed by permanent exhibition boards which retrace the main aspects of the Liberation fight in the Casone of April 1945, the kind of counter-actions carried out by the Partisans, the Operation Herring and the story of the Partisan Alfonsino Saccenti. Moreover, there is a corner dedicated to the rich library with historical volumes dedicated to Resistance and Second World War.

Historical notes:

The Casone del Partigiano (Partisan' big house) is located in the countryside between Bentivoglio and San Pietro in Casale. Used between 1790 and 1850 as a shelter for the valley watchman and for hunters, it has been later used by Partisans as a refuge during the revolt against Germans and Fascists during the Second World War. On April 18th, 19th, 20th and 21st 1945, the Partisan command of the second Brigade “Paolo” met the delegates of the fourth Brigade “Venturoli”. On April 21st the first clashes with the retreating Germans took place in the zone between the Casone and San Pietro in Casale, between Rubizzano and Gavaseto and between the Bologna-Padova railway. In these fights many Partisans lost their lives.

During the Second World War, the Casone already appeared as it is today: surrounded by a huge pit with a gangway to cross it. As a consequence of some reclamation works, the Casone collapsed. The Partisans of the second Brigade “Paolo” decided to rebuild it as an evidence for future generations so that the Resistance ideals would remain alive and so that peace, freedom and social justice would be safeguarded. Today the Partisan Casone, together with the newly built pavilion, is house to the Memory Park.