filled up and all buildings that might be used as fortress had to be destroyed. The ring villages were destroyed by 1481, under the rule of Giovanni II Bentivoglio; while over the years the castle expanded to its present shape with new bastions and embankments. At the end of the 15th century, the Bentivoglio using designs of Gaspare Nadi, built the present city hall, acquired by the Community in 1612. In the final years of Bentivoglio's rule, a canal to help drain the boggy lowlands of Sant'Agata Bolognese, Crevalcore and San Giovanni in Persiceto, was completed: this canal, the Cavamento, made large swaths of northern Persiceto tillable and habitable, so that by the 1470s, the new parish of San Matteo della Decima and its church were built. The inhabitants of Persiceto thankfully donated to Giovanni Bentivoglio a vast piece of land, on which later the mansion and castle of la Giovannina was built. Modern age Between the 15-16th century hemp culture and weaving expanded; and new crops such as mulberry, rice, and maize, were introduced. Landownership became more concentrated and sharecropping system consolidated, though the latter has been limited by the existence of Participants on a wide area. During the 16th century the Persiceto was overrun by foreign armies; the Agricultureal Attendance Institute Partecipanza was founded and a sharing of the common lands that took place every nine years was enhanced; the city centre underwent a process of impoverishment, whereas the weekly market on Wednesday kept flourishing thanks to old privileges. The local oligarchy of new families' faithful to the Church and subject to the Reggimento of Bologna and the Papal Legacy was established. In the following two centuries, the castle interior underwent reconstruction; many ('little kitchen-gardens') among the buildings disappeared in favour of new houses. Old medieval buildings were also destroyed, while some others were irreversibly modified. New churches and convents were built (among the other things, with the demolition of the old parish, a collegiate church was rebuilt there). The Ospedale del SS. Salvatore (now G. G. Croce Town Library and historical archive) was built on the grounds of the old fortress. The town theatre was built. The incompetence of Papal governance impeded the development of the agriculture, whereas in other zones of the Po river valley advances in cultivation during half of the 18th century enhanced agricultural and economic progress. In Persiceto we can pinpoint samples of