Rocca di Cento, Medieval fortress in Cento, Italy

Rocca di Cento is a medieval fortress built in 1378, with an entrance tower, three corner towers and a tall keep. The drawbridges and moat that once surrounded it are gone. Inside are the chapel, the Sala della Trifora, gun ports and the prison cells in the keep.

The Bishop of Bologna ordered construction of this defensive structure in 1378 to maintain control over the region after local uprisings threatened his authority. This marked a turning point in the church's grip on the territory.

The venerated image of the Madonna, dating from 1460, is kept in the nearby sanctuary of the Beata Vergine della Rocca, not inside the fortress. Tradition holds that it bled in 1597 after a soldier quartered in the rocca struck it with an arrow, and that it later stopped cholera on 8 July 1855 and spared Cento from Anglo-American bombing in 1944.

Visitors can explore the fortress through guided tours that provide access to multiple levels including towers, a chapel, and exhibition areas. Comfortable footwear is recommended since medieval staircases and passages can be steep and narrow throughout the structure.

Inside the cells of the mastio, inscriptions left by inmates still record where the prisoners came from. During the Second World War the underground rooms served as a shelter for the inhabitants of Cento during bombing raids. The castle passed to the Italian state after unification and held political prisoners and bandits until 1969.