a town and episcopal see of Emilia, Italy, in the province of Forli, 8 m. S.E. direct of Forli and 52 m. N. of the station of Forlimpopoli, and Boo ft. above sea-level. Pop. (1901) 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, 21 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 Atti e Memorie della Deputazione di Storia patria per le prooniae di Romagna, ser. iii. vol. ix. (Bologna, 1891), i seq. (T. As.)