Cento 3.36

Cento is a town and comune in the province of Ferrara, Emilia-Romagna, Italy.HistoryThe name Cento is a reference to the centuriation of the Po Valley. Cento's growth from its origin as a little fishing village in the marshes to an established farming town took place in the first few centuries in the second millennium.The Bishop of Bologna and the Abbot of Nonantola established the Partecipanza Agraria, an institution in which land would perpetually be redistributed every twenty years among the male heirs of the families who constituted the initial core of the community in the 12th century.In 1502 Pope Alexander VI took it away from the dominion of the Bishop of Bologna and made it part of the dowry of his daughter Lucrezia Borgia, betrothed to Duke Alfonso I d'Este and was later returned to the Papal States in 1598.South-east of the city lies the small historic fortification of Pieve di Cento.Main sightsPalazzo del Monte di Pietà, housing the Civic Gallery. It has paintings by the local artist Guercino. The latter's works can be seen also in the Basilica Collegiata San Biagio, Santa Maria dei Servi, the church of the Rosary, also designed by him, and, in the frazione of Corporeno, the 14th-century church of San Giorgio.The Rocca, a massive square building with square towers. Built in 1378 by the bishop of Bologna, it was enlarged by Giulio della Rovere, the future pope Julius II, in 1460.Palazzo del Governatore . It is home to the Galleria d'arte moderna Aroldo Bonzagni.Porta Pieve, the sole surviving gate of the four once existing.