Medicina

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Comune di Medicina
Coat of arms of Comune di Medicina
Municipal coat of arms
Country Flag of Italy Italy
Region Emilia-Romagna
Province Bologna (BO)
Mayor Nara Rebecchi (since June 2004)
Elevation 20 m (66 ft)
Area 102 km² (39 sq mi)
Population (as of December 31, 2005)
 - Total 13,276
 - Density 130/km² (337/sq mi)
Time zone CET, UTC+1
Coordinates 44°29′N, 11°38′E
Gentilic Medicinesi
Dialing code 051
Postal code 40059
Frazioni Buda, Crocetta, Fossatone, Fiorentina, Ganzanigo, Portonovo, San Martino, Sant'Antonio, Villa Fontana
Patron St. Lucy
 - Day December 13
Website: www.comune.medicina.bo.it

Medicina is an Italian comune with 13,276 inhabitants in the province of Bologna, part of the region of Emilia-Romagna.

[edit] Name

The origins of its name (In Italian it means drug) are quite uncertain and many hypotheses have been made on it. A legend tells that the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, passing through Medicina from Milan fell ill and miraculously recovered from this illness because of a snake that accidentally came into the pot of his soup. It has been proved though that the name of the town dates back to the time before the passage of Barbarossa, that indeed happened though. In memory of this legend every year the "Festa del Barbarossa" takes place in the 3rd weekend of September.

[edit] Science

Near Medicina (in the village of Fiorentina) there is a radio observatory named "Croce del Nord" (Cross of the North), made up of a 32 meters long aerial and of a much wider "cross". It is operated by the Istituto di Radioastronomia di Bologna (Institute for Radio Astronomy of Bologna), created by the CNR (National association for Research) and now part of the INAF and there is an identical one in Noto, Sicily.

[edit] External links