In Romagna, sulphur extraction took place in areas between the Rabbi, Bidente and Savio valleys. Over time, mines arose in Predappio in the Rabbi valley, Valdinoce, Polenta and Valdimauro in the Bidente valley, Boratella and Formignano in the Savio valley.
The most significant of these, the Formignano mining village near Borello di Cesena, produced notable results in its time. Documented in Roman and medieval times and in the Papal era, sulphur production was intensified in the immediate post-Unification period under the management of the Società Miniere Solfuree di Romagna. Activity continued between the two world wars in a moment of economic stability and the transfer of ownership to the Montecatini Company which managed production until crisis of the 1950s and the final closure of the plant in 1962. After forty years of disuse, the mining village of Formignano is now in a state of advanced degradation, but retains its original layout: three large structures and other buildings line two parallel streets.
The offices, workshops, warehouses, kilns, shafts, electrical cabins and other elements used in mining are all artefacts of the industrial past.
Now the property of the Municipality of Cesena, a project to recover the mining settlement is in the works.
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