Imola is a real, inhabited town-fortress before Milagro, explicitly not one of the Invisible Cities. It is a new, possibly independent fief ruled by people from Milan, being rebuilt around its castle, workshops, vineyard and cathedral.
| Type | Place (town / castle-fortress) |
| Rulers | Newcomers from Milan |
| Spanish entry | Imola |
Description
Travelers heading to Milagro see first the workshops, then the vineyard, then the walls. Records call it both “the city” and “the castle of Imola”; the more trusted account favors a castle-fortress, and the company says it is “in the castle of Imola”. It is called “a lovely place”.
On the walls stand “some constructions he made”, which allowed something to be raised inside the castle. The housekeeper holds a copy of every key and decides which rooms open. Two rooms are set apart: a “dark room”, reserved by express request, and a “tower of tranquility” for alchemical creations. Ambassadors have come to its gate.
The fief
Its rulers did “what they had to do” in Milan and now govern here. The fief rests on:
- The castle: walls, diplomatic gate, managed keys.
- The workshops: recovered; they “got workers again” and have money to grow.
- The vineyard: “raised”, with “everything sprouted” in three months; a new wine is due this season.
- The Cathedral of Imola: a hierarchy the new power does not yet control and means to “clean out”.
The wording implies an earlier collapse.
The inhabitants are “very happy”. The sign of recovery is a peasant dance in which people toss others into the air on sheets.
Open questions
- The castle’s materials and condition, and the layout of castle, town and cathedral.
- The lord of Imola — who asked for the dark room and works in the tower — is unnamed; the fief is linked to one of the company of the gesta.
- The distances to Milagro and Milan.
- Who heads the cathedral hierarchy.
- Whether the vineyard’s three-month growth was natural; the record suggests otherwise without stating it.