Kainua, the Etruscan city of Marzabotto

On the plateau of Misano, along the River Reno, the Etruscans founded a city in the 6th century BC which they called Kainua. It was a trading hub between Tyrrhenian Etruria, Felsina (ancient Bologna) and the port of Spina on the Adriatic: goods, metals and Greek ceramics all passed through here.

The city was built all at once according to a precise plan: wide straight streets crossing at right angles, regular blocks, water channels. This is why archaeologists consider it an exceptional example of ancient town planning. In the 4th century BC the arrival of the Boii Gauls marked the end of the Etruscan city.

In the archaeological park you walk amongst the foundations of houses, the workshops of potters and blacksmiths, the paved streets and the remains of the acropolis with its temples, whilst outside the gates lie the necropolises. The Museo Nazionale Etrusco Pompeo Aria displays the finest finds: a marble head of a kouros from Greece, bronze statuettes of worshippers, Attic vases and terracottas from the temples.

Marzabotto is also a place of remembrance: on the hills of Monte Sole, in autumn 1944, the SS murdered hundreds of civilians. The Parco storico di Monte Sole and the Sacrario dei Caduti in the town deserve a pause after visiting the excavations.