Cortemaggiore

Cortemaggiore (Piacentino: Curtmagiùr) is an Italian comune (municipality) located in the Province of Piacenza. Cortemaggiore is located in northern Italy about 80 kilometres (50 mi) from Milan and 120 kilometres (75 mi) from Bologna, in the Po Valley. The municipality borders Fiorenzuola d'Arda, Villanova sull'Arda, Besenzone, San Pietro in Cerro, Caorso, Pontenure and Cadeo. The town was founded in 1479 by the Pallavicini family, over an old Roman habitation, which had been the capital of the ancient Stato Pallavicino. In 1949 the Italian entrepreneur Enrico Mattei discovered in Cortemaggiore's subsoil an important oilfield; with this oil a gasoline called Supercortemaggiore was produced, the only one refined from Italian oil. The municipality's motto is Nihil sanctius quam recta fides cum sororibus associata - "Nothing is holier than a true faith combined with other virtues."