Pontecchio Marconi
Memorial
Pontecchio Marconi
Country estate of the Marconi family
The municipality Sasso Marconi is located in the low hilly landscape surrounded by several river branches approx. a thirty-minute-drive south of Bologna. The former country estate of one of the country’s most important industrialist families is located here in the district Pontecchio. Radio pioneer Guglielmo Marconi carried out his first experiments, which would later earn him the Physics Nobel Prize in 1909, in this villa.
Villa Griffone
Said country estate, Villa Griffone, was already built around 1600 and acquired by Giuseppe Marconi, father of the future Nobel laureate, in 1849. Guglielmo spent most of his youth here and later developed the basics of wireless telecommunication engineering in the estate. Today the foundation Fondazione Guglielmo Marconi and a special Marconi Museum featuring a collection of several historical radio sets, most of which are still working, have found a home inside the grand villa. The garden features a bronze statue of Marconi, parts of his afloat radio laboratory and his mausoleum. To this day metal parts the pioneer once used for his experiments continue to be found in the outdoor facilities.
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