Imola

Until 200 BC, Rome only controlled a small part of Italy. The broad fertile plain of the River Po was obviously worth seizing, so they built Via Aemilia as a great trunk road, with a line of colonies, fortresses and towns along it. Imola was one of these towns, established by the dictator Sulla around 82 BC. Other despots also thought it worth seizing, so Imola was at various times held by the Lombards, the Pope, and the warring Italian great families. It particularly enjoyed patronage in the 15th century and again in the 18th, with many fine buildings created or embellished. The town's main trades were agriculture and ceramics, like nearby Faenza. Imola in 2025 had a population just under 70,000; it's a commuter town and has excellent transport along the valley, so you could use it as a base to explore everywhere from Bologna to Ravenna. But what made its name famous is the racing circuit, opened in 1953 and later renamed the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in honour of Ferrari's founder and his son; it remains a fixture of the Formula One calendar and hosts other motorsport events through the year.

Imola is on the Via Emilia and the Bologna–Rimini railway line, between Bologna and Faenza.

The historic centre is walkable from the railway station.

The Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari racing circuit, which has hosted Formula One and other major motorsport events since 1953, is the town's best-known landmark; the historic centre retains buildings from Imola's patronage under the Church and local ruling families in the 15th and 18th centuries.

Race weekends and track days at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, when scheduled on the motorsport calendar.

Imola shares Faenza's tradition of agriculture and ceramics production.

Imola sits on the Via Emilia rail line between Bologna and Faenza/Ravenna.