1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Borgo San Donnino

by Thomas Ashby

BORGO SAN DONNINO, a town and episcopal see of Emilia, Italy, in the province of Parma, 14 m. N.W. by rail from the town of Parma. Pop. (1901) town, 6251; commune, 12,109. It occupies the site of the ancient Fidentia, on the Via Aemilia; no doubt, as its name shows, of Roman origin. Here M. Lucullus defeated the democrats under Carbo in 82 B.C. It was independent under Vespasian, but seems soon to have become a village dependent on Parma. Its present name comes from the martyrdom of S. Domninus under Maximian in A.D. 304. The cathedral, erected in honour of this saint, is one of the finest and best-preserved Lombardo-Romanesque churches of the 11th–13th centuries in north Italy. The upper part of the façade is incomplete, but the lower, with its three portals and sculptures, is very fine; the interior is simple and well-proportioned, and has not been spoilt by restorations. For the bénitier, a work of the early 11th century, see Rassegna d’Arte, 1905, 180. Not far from the town is the small church of S. Antonio del Viennese, a 13th-century structure in brick (ib., 1906, 22). The Palazzo Comunale, in the Gothic-Lombard style, is a work of the 14th century. Borgo S. Donnino is an important centre for the produce and cattle of Emilia.  (T. As.)