BERTINORO  , a :

town and episcopal see of Emilia, Italy, in the province of Forli, 8 m . S.E. direct of Forli and 51 m . N. of the station of Forlimpopoli, and 800 ft. above sea-level . Pop . (19o1) town, 3753; commune, 7786 . The town commands a fine view to the north over the plain of Emilia and the lower course of the Po, itself lying on the foothills of the Apennines . It appears to have been first fortified by Frederick Barbarossa, and its castle stood frequent sieges in the middle ages . Polenta, 22 M. to the south of it, was the birthplace of Francesca da Rimini . The castle is almost entirely ruined, but the church of S . Donato, of the Lombard period, with Byzantine capitals, is interesting; Giosue Carducci has written a fine ode on the subject (La Chiesa di Polenta, Bologna, 1897) . See C . Ricci, " Della Chiesa e castello di Polenta " in Atli e Memorie Vella Deputazione di Storia patria per le prooniae di Romagna, ser. iii. vol. ix .

(Bologna, 1891), I seq . (T .