A tourist and residential center of the Bolognese Apennines, Loiano is located on the Futa road that connects Bologna to Florence, the historic route of the "Mille Miglia".
The territory is home to prestigious buildings of historical and architectural interest, starting from the beautiful Church of San Giacomo and Santa Margherita, a building of the fourteenth century, built by the Augustinians. The choir and bell tower are from 1700s, the dome from 1933. The Church houses two beautiful eighteenth-century works: Madonna, Bambino e S. Giacomo by Calvart and la Madonna del Carmine by A. Piò.
On the hill of Scanello is the elegant Villa Loup (sec. XIX), where Pope Pius VII stopped in 1859 after meeting Napoleon III in Paris.
The visit to the Astronomical Observatory of the University of Bologna is of great charm. Built in 1936, it has two observational structures that allow the observation of the sky with powerful telescopes.
One of the most characteristic settlements in the territory of Loiano is that of Anconella, an ancient village dating back to the 1500s, which stretches around a characteristic colonnaded building, urban type, once home to the Hospitable stop for pilgrims. (sec. XVI-XVII). Inside you can admire a beautiful fireplace with the coat of arms of the noble family of Bentivoglio.
Also worth visiting is the historical church, enlarged in the 1700s and the remains of an ancient oratory dating back to the 1300s.
Located on the northern border of the municipality, the hamlet of Barbarolo (whose ancient Pieve was mentioned as early as 1034) houses the Church of Saints Peter and Paul. Rebuilt in this century, it rests on an ancient early Romanesque parish church, which can be traced back to the seventh - eighth century A.D. Worth seeing is also the ancient oratory of San Cristoforo which has a plaque in memory of a restoration carried out in 1467.
