The town is located west of Lugo, along the state road S. Vitale, which connects Bologna to Ravenna.
Massa Lombarda is renowned as “the town of fruit”. This is the place where modern fruit farming technologies (most importantly for peaches) were pioneered between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th. The earliest fruit exportation into other European countries started around this time and in 1927 the town hosted the second national fruit farming exposition (Seconda Esposizione Nazionale di Frutticoltura).
The town of course hosts a museum dedicated to fruit farming; it is located inside a rural house at the entrance of the town centre. The Museo Adolfo Bonvicini has a display related to farming life and work and one specifically dedicated to the evolution of fruit farming technology.
The art museum of Centro Culturale Carlo Venturini, in addition to the collection of antique and curious objects that the doctor and philanthropist donated to the city, houses the library with its valuable antique collection of about 8,000 volumes and the picture gallery, where works by many artists are displayed, including some by Garofalo, Bastianino, Giambattista Bassi, and Giuseppe Caletti.
Sabadoni are typical local cakes; they are celebrated during the festival with the same name. Their name comes from saba, a dark-looking must syrup produced by boiling grapes.
In the spring, worth mentioning is the Crossroads International Jazz Festival and during the last weekend of August: Sagra delle Sfogline, a local fair celebrating the art of pasta dough rolling in which local champions compete against each other to roll the best pasta sheets and turn them into delicious tagliatelle.
The sanctuary of Madonna del Trebeghino (also known as Madonna dell’Oppio) is one of the oldest worship places of the area; it is located just a few kilometres from Massa Lombarda. It probably dates back to the 15th century and is linked to an ancient popular legend; the church takes its name from the estate on which it was built.
