But Carbognano is also a small white church, sanctuary of the Madonna di Carbognano ...

The oldest news we have on our site, takes us to the year one thousand ahead of Christ, when the ancient inhabitants of Romagna pushed inland reaching the valley of the Conca river ... about 2150 years ago .... before Christ, there was a Roman temple, where there is now the church.

It was thought that the name Carboniano came from coal-rich soils, but the story that fascinated us follows a different plot ............ ..

The countryside around Rimini was used for agriculture and pastoralism and was divided into "centurias", we are in Roman times. Gemmano was also so divided, it was the Geminiano fund, property of the Roman Geminia family, from which it is presumed to take its name and where vineyards and wheat were grown.

At the foot of the Gemmano mountain, along the Conca river where Via Pedrosa now stands, there was Via Pietrosa at the time, it connected the ancient road that still leads to Rome passing through Urbino and the Cattolica sea. Numerous discoveries of wine amphorae testify to a great ferment of the wine market which reached Rome by sea from Cattolica.

At that time the CARBONIA family of the Roman tribe of the Arniensi settled in our areas, which included the centurion Consul Gneo Papirio Carbone.

The fund owned by the Carbonia family was called Fondo Vico Carboniano, today Carbognano; this is the name that the notary used to define the land possession we were buying, the Carbognano Fund.

The Roman era had a greater extension, to the south up to Montefiore Conca and to the north beyond the river Conca;

The Carbonia family like the ancient Romans, worshiped different deities and built temples dedicated to the gods, built one where there is now the Carbognano sanctuary, was dedicated to the worship of the Greek god Pan, was invoked to protect crops and animals.

The God Pan had a monstrous appearance halfway between a man and an animal:

the body covered with fur, the mouth with fangs, on the chin a goat-like beard, goat legs, long and twisted tail and horns. Today at popular festivals it is possible to have the opportunity to see a boy who disguises himself as the god Pan, but does not bring joy as instead is written of the god Pan, a cheerful dancer who plays the Pan Flute.

In 1822, digging in the square of the sanctuary, a plaque written in Latin came to light as a testimony to religious ceremonies designed to invoke the protection of the god Luperco who was believed to ward off very numerous wolves in our woods at the time.

The name of one of the priests who came for the evocative celebrations was engraved on Carbognano's plaque:

in the evening, when the fires were lit, a dog, a pig, cows or goats were sacrificed;

the priests covered their hips with the fur of these animals and running through the crowd they hit the people present, marking them with blood.

They also believed that affected mature women could become pregnant.

It was also a greeting ceremony to the imminent spring, propitiatory towards the earth and its fruits. This ancient rite remained until the fifth century, replaced by the current Valentine's day.

On August 20, 1783, a farmer plowing the field brought to light four cinerary urns dating back to the end of the first century after Christ, 30-40 cm high, bearing the names of the four members of the Roman family Geminia;

One of these shows the representation of the god Jupiter Amone under the guise of an Aries. It is believed that there was another votive temple in the area, dedicated to him.

With the advent of the tyrant Syria everything was destroyed and there is no more news until the claims that mention the Carbognano fund as part of the Massa Marattiana of San Savino, a large wine production basin.

In 1260 a group of Conventual Franciscan friars,

builds on the remains of the Roman temple, a small convent with a small oratory

with the help of two hermits, already on the spot before their arrival: Bear and Lion.

The church was first consecrated to San Francesco and around 1500 to the Madonna. They commissioned an unknown painter to paint the fresco of the image of the Madonna which was painted on the wall of the church.

In 1348 the black plague spread probably arrived by ship and reaped many victims.

The Franciscan friars treated the sick until they perished themselves and were buried in the land around the sanctuary.

Searching in the encyclopedia:

Encyclopedia> History and society> Law> Ancient law> Roman> Carboniano, Edict-

Carboniano, Edict-measure issued by the Roman magistrate Papirio Carbone (not better identified) to suspend any controversy on the legitimacy or otherwise of the impuber and to leave him the temporary possession of the inherited assets until reaching puberty, postponing the judgment on the controversy to that moment.

In 1780 the administrative-religious structure changed and the Vicariates were born. Carbognano becomes part of the Vicariate of Morciano di Romagna. The unfavorable events of the last decades had helped to bring believers closer to the destroyed church of Carbognano,

this is the period of the (presumed) Marian apparitions.

In this period numerous small cells were born, along the roads, throughout Valconca.

The cells of the crossroads are still visible on the Gemmano territory, they are usually found at the intersection of several roads and have the task of protecting travelers on roads that were then pilgrimage to the major sanctuaries such as that of Loreto.

The earthquake of 1786 dealt the coup de grace to the sanctuary.

Given the terrible historical period marked by floods, famines, plague, Napoleonic repressions, the Carbognano sanctuary was abandoned, now there were few elderly friars left.

In 1796 Napoleon arrived in Italy, the new emperor abolished all forms of worship, all the convents were seized and auctioned. Carbognano was bought for little money by some local gentleman who used the remains of the church and oratory as a stable for the animals.

In 1817, the archpriest Don Matteo Sellari, in following the Napoleonic dispositions that wanted cemeteries far from the churches and the inhabited centers, gave dispositions to unearth the bodies buried near the churches and in Carbognano something strange happened.

The first skeletons that emerged from the ground have very long bones, especially tibia, fibula and femur, that is, the bones of the legs certainly belonged to people up to two meters tall.

Startled and frightened, no one dared to move those remains that were buried around the church.

Around the sanctuary of Carbognano the popularity for the Madonna grew: thanks to his divine intervention there were healings and miraculous events.

With the proceeds that came from it, it was enlarged and reached its present size around 1925.

During the final phase of the Second World War 1945, the retreat of the Germans on the Gemmano mount, the last stronghold to defend the escape, meant that the allies managed to conquer the Gemmano mount, only after the town was completely razed .

The bombing took place from ships anchored on the Adriatic Sea.

The little church of Carbognano and the tufaceous caves around it and scattered throughout the town of Gemmano, gave shelter to the now exhausted population.

the certificates of the vineyard in the Rimini area mention:

- years 983-998, intact Carbognano fund, part of the Maratiana mass (Pieve di S. Savino), cum terris et vineis campis pratis pascuis silvis salectissationalibus vel omnibus eisdem pertinentibus. (ibid., p.311)

The collection of information on the history of the Carbognano sanctuary is due to Mr. Stefano Bianchini who wrote a book entitled Sanctuary of the Madonna di Carbognano available at the church of Gemmano, the sanctuary or at the Casadei printing house in Morciano di Romagna. _ Manuscript found in the historical parish archive of Gemmano.