The first evidence of the Palazzona di Maggio, found at the State Archives in Bologna, is due to the land surveyor Alfonso Nelli, whose drawing dated 1581 depicts a massive building with a different shape frome the present.
The building was erected on a Roman settlement dating back to 40 BC.
Early in the Eigtheenth century the Palazzona was bought by the Counts Hercolani, who commissioned the architect Angelo Venturoli the magnificent changes we can now admire.
The work started around 1780 and went for over ten years, involving a remakable extension of the bulding and the inclusion of the adjoining Oratorio della Beata Vergine Addolorata (Oratory of Our Lady of Sorrows).
The villa was provided with wide flights of steps and a portal with steps and portal with Corinthian collums with the middle part of the front surmounted by a tympan.
The interiors were frescoed with a floreal allegories symbolizing the four Seasons.
On the upper floor there were created paintings with perspective landscapes by Luigi Santi da Bologna.
The acces is trought a long drive lined with lindens of exceptional environmental value and the villa is surrounded by a large park.