Municipality of Bondeno

Bondeno, an Italian municipality with 13,742 inhabitants, is located in the province of Ferrara, Emilia-Romagna, along the Panaro river. Its flat territory is at the western end of the province and borders Mantua, Modena and Rovigo. Bondeno is the only municipality in Ferrara that borders Lombardy. The area is characterised by a dense water network, with the Panaro River flowing into the Po, defining Bondeno's northern boundary, while the Cavo Napoleonico and a series of canals, including the remarkable Canale di Burana, are the result of 20th century land reclamation works.

Bondeno is part of the so-called ‘alto ferrarese’, a geographic-political division that includes the west of the province. It is a historic centre for fruit production and the name ‘Bondeno’ may derive from ‘Bondinacus’, the ancient name for the river.

Archaeological research has revealed human settlements from the Neolithic, Middle Bronze Age, Iron Age and Roman periods. Bondeno's history is marked by floods and efforts to control water and encourage agriculture.

During the Middle Ages, Bondeno belonged to the monastery of Nonantola and then to Matilde di Canossa, who built a castle to defend the town. Later, it was destroyed by Alfonso I d'Este. A controversial theory suggests that in 1463, Bondeno may have been the site of the first movable type printing in Italy.

It suffered Venetian and Parmesan invasions, and after the fall of the Este family, it passed to the Papal States. With Napoleon, it entered the Cisalpine Republic and then the Department of the Lower Po River. In 1860, Bondeno joined the Kingdom of Sardinia and later the Kingdom of Italy. In 2011, it was named a City on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the Unification of Italy.

In 2012, Bondeno was hit by a magnitude 6.1 earthquake, causing damage to historic and industrial buildings.