Dozza: The Painted Borgo Where Art Meets Wine

An open-air museum on the Imola hills

Arriving in Dozza is an experience that begins before you even reach the historic centre. Already from the road climbing toward the borgo, colours reveal themselves: painted facades, walls transformed into canvases, corners where medieval stone converses with contemporary art. Dozza is Italy's painted borgo — a place where since 1960 artists from around the world have been invited to leave their work on the walls of the houses, creating a diffuse art gallery that grows and renews itself with each edition of the Biennale del Muro Dipinto.

We are on the hills south of Imola, in that strip of hilly Romagna that links the plain to the first Apennine ridges. A place of gentle landscape, ordered vineyards and a generous table, as everywhere in Emilia-Romagna.

What to see in Dozza

The painted walls

The core of Dozza's identity is its murals collection. Since the first Biennale del Muro Dipinto in 1960, hundreds of Italian and international artists have left their mark on the borgo's facades. The works range from abstract to figurative, surreal to political, and every corner holds a surprise. Walking through Dozza is like leafing through a living art catalogue: the paintings fade, are restored or replaced by new works, in a continuous cycle that keeps the borgo always different from itself.

The Biennale is held in odd-numbered years (September): for two days the borgo comes alive with artists at work, public, tastings and music. But even outside the event, the walls speak.

The Rocca Sforzesca

At the summit of the borgo, the Rocca Sforzesca commands the valley with its compact, well-preserved structure. Built in the thirteenth century and expanded by Caterina Sforza in the fifteenth, the fortress is a perfect example of Renaissance military architecture. The carefully restored interior rooms house the civic art gallery with works from the fourteenth to the eighteenth century and a haunting torture chamber that narrates the darker side of medieval history.

From the fortress terrace, the panorama extends across the Po plain to Bologna on clear days, and over the Romagnol hills toward the Montefeltro.

The regional wine cellar of Emilia-Romagna

In the cellars of the Rocca Sforzesca sits the regional wine cellar of Emilia-Romagna, the only institution of its kind in the region. It is a journey through Emilian-Romagnol wine: hundreds of labels from every province, with the possibility of guided tastings. Here you can discover wines that rarely cross regional borders — the Bosco Eliceo from Ferrara, the Colli di Scandiano e Canossa, the Romagna Albana in its many versions — in a unique and evocative setting.

The Albana DOCG, the first Italian white wine to earn the guarantee designation, deserves particular attention: in its passito version it is a golden nectar that magnificently accompanies traditional desserts.

The flavours of Dozza

Dozza sits squarely in the Bolognese-Romagnol gastronomic zone, which means one of the most celebrated cuisines in the world:

- Tagliatelle al ragù — here the ragù is the authentic Bolognese, with its long sauté, the blend of meats and the patient hours of cooking

- Passatelli — in broth or dry, with seasonal variations including truffle, asparagus or clams

- Tortelloni di ricotta — the large version of tortellini, filled with ricotta and spinach, dressed with butter and sage

- Ciambella romagnola — the simple dessert to dip in Albana, a fixture in every Romagnol household

Among the red wines, Sangiovese di Romagna Superiore is king of the table: in Riserva versions it reaches surprising complexity. The often-underrated Trebbiano romagnolo is perfect as an aperitivo among the painted walls.

How to get there

Dozza is just 6 kilometres from Imola and about 35 kilometres from Bologna. The most convenient motorway exit is Imola on the A14. Imola's railway station is on the Bologna–Rimini line, well served by regional trains; from Imola, a short taxi or bus ride brings you to the borgo. By bicycle, Dozza is reachable from Imola with a pleasant ride through the vineyards, with a manageable climb.

The borgo is entirely pedestrian: park in the car parks at the base of the hill and walk up in a few minutes.

When to go

Spring (April–June) is the best period: temperatures are ideal for strolling among the painted walls, the surrounding vineyards are in bloom and the borgo is quiet. Autumn (September–October) is equally splendid, with the colours of the harvest and the chance to attend the Biennale del Muro Dipinto in odd-numbered years. On the first Sunday of every month, an antique market animates the streets of the centre.

Dozza is living proof that art needs no museum: sometimes all it takes is a wall, a brush and a hillside borgo forgotten by the tourist guides.