Fornovo di Taro - Fornovo di Taro

Fornovo di Taro is a center ofEmilia Romagna.

To know

Geographical notes

It is located on the right bank of the Taro, on the first Apennine reliefs of Parma. It is 25 km away. from Parma.

Background

The Roman Novum Forum it was a very important station in the Middle Ages on the route of the Via Francigena, where it was a plebeian center and a connecting center for the Roman routes that branched off from the Via Emilia. It is mentioned in the diaries of the pilgrimages made by the archbishop of Canterbury Sigeric in about 990, the Icelandic abbot Nikulas de Munkathvera in 1154 and the king of France Philip Augustus returning from the third crusade in 1191. The parish church of Santa Maria Assunta was one of the main stops, favored by the existence of many xenodochi also in the vicinity.

In 1495 the town was the scene of the famous battle of Fornovo fought between the troops of the anti-French coalition formed by the Papacy, Austria, Spain, England, Florence, Milan, Venice, led by Francesco II Gonzaga, and the French of Charles VIII.

In modern times Fornovo became the main Italian center of oil production and processing. The refining plants of the early twentieth century are now a testimony of industrial archeology. During the Second World War the Fornovo area was the scene of the last pitched battle in Sacca di Fornovo.

The town now benefits from a decent tourist activity, especially in summer, and is still one of the main stops for those who retrace the Via Francigena to rediscover the ancient parish churches and ancient Apennine villages that have seen the passage of thousands and thousands of Roman pilgrims.

How to orient yourself

Neighborhoods

In its territory there are also the inhabited centers of Banzola, Cafragna, Camporosso, Case Borgheggiani, Caselle, Case Rosa, Case Stefanini, Citerna, Citerna Vecchia, Faseto, Fornace, La Costa, La Magnana, Le Capanne, Neviano de 'Rossi, Osteriazza, Piantonia, Piazza, Provincial, Respiccio, Riccò, Roncolongo, Salita-Riola, Sivizzano, Spagnano, Triano, Villanova, Vizzola

How to get

By plane

• 44.821810.296031 Parma airport (G. Verdi), Via Emilia - Golese locality, ☎ 39 0521 951511. 
• 44.5352811.291162 Bologna airport (G.Marconi), Via Triumvirato 84, ☎ 39 051 6479615. 

By car

• It has a motorway exit right on the Cisa Parma - La Spezia motorway
• Strada Statale 62 della Cisa

On the train

It has its own railway station:

• line Parma - Spice
• line Fidenza - Fornovo

By bus

Bus line connection with Parma - TEP lines (timetables)

How to get around

What see

• Parish church of Santa Maria Assunta. Already mentioned in documents of the mid-ninth century, it probably dates back to the Lombard foundations of the eighth century. It currently has a gabled façade with two mullioned windows. It was rebuilt in the 11th century; in 1100 and 1200 it had the exonarthex, the ambo and the left portal; the bell tower is a fourteenth-century work (1301 - 1375). Its current appearance is typically Romanesque and can be traced back to the sixteenth century; the portal and the chapels are from the eighteenth century. For the use of pilgrims there was a hospital near the bridge over the Taro, dependent on the Bishop of Parma; in the first half of the thirteenth century it was destroyed by a flood. There were two other hospitals nearby a Medesano named after San Giacomo and San Lazzaro, and one a Felegara named after San Genesio.

On the facade there is a valuable sculpture depicting a pilgrim in typical clothing, and with bread tied on his side, a bucket for water and a sack on his shoulder. Inside, the capitals of polystyle pillars are decorated with figures of animals and mythical creatures and symbolic references to the Evangelists. In the area of ​​the old thirteenth-fourteenth century narthex, incorporated into the church with subsequent extensions, there are statues of a king (probably Liutprando) and a saint (San Moderà is believed).

The interior layout with three naves, with four large central columns and six half-pillars in river stone and terracotta, dates back to the eleventh century. The main altar houses the work that is considered to be the most important: a white marble slab, now used as a frontal, depicting episodes from the life of Santa Margherita. The author is a sculptor from the end of the 12th to the beginning of the 13th century and is probably the same who worked in the parish church of the nearby Bardone and his style is clearly of the anti-Elamic school. 

• They break out. In the Sporzana valley, a tributary of the Taro, Sivizzano is a small town in the Fornovese territory that took advantage of the passage of the Roman pilgrims who passed through it to get around Mount Prinzera. The site has provided numerous important finds of Roman settlements: a farm dating back to the 1st century BC. and the 1st century AD; a furnace; bricks bearing a stamp which testifies to the presence in the valley of the gens Cassia. The ancient church, dedicated to Santa Margherita, a character closely linked to the Francigena path, had annexed a xenodochio for pilgrims. In the village theHospitale Sporzane in 1098, which at the end of the thirteenth century depended on the Fornovese plebeian area. In 1560 its possession passed to the Parma hospital. Leaning against the church of Santa Margherita, it has a structure with a small porticoed courtyard and loggia. The interventions of the eighteenth century, however, leave visible brick parts and a portal dating back to at least the fourteenth - fifteenth century. There church of Santa Margherita it was rebuilt at the end of the eighteenth century and houses furnishings and ornaments from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, as well as an altarpiece depicting the martyrdom of Saints Margherita, Agata and Lucia. 

Events and parties

• Festival of the Assumption. on August 15. 

What to do

Shopping

Fornovo is one of the centers of the association with the aim of promoting food and wine tourism Route of ham and wines of the hills which includes the municipalities of Calestano, Corniglio, Feline, Langhirano, Palanzano, Baganza room, Varano de 'Melegari, Varsi. This membership suggests the purchase of Parma ham and Malvasia delle hills.

How to have fun

Where to eat

• Bel Sit Pizzeria, via Nazionale 167, ☎ 39 0525 400243. 
• The Ciancio d'Oro, Via Nazionale 105. 
• Boschetto restaurant pizzeria, Prinzera street 91, ☎ 39 0525 2235. 
• The Secret of Pulcinella, Prinzera street 8, ☎ 39 0525 1981066, 39 0525 3190. 

Where stay

• Cavalieri Hotel, Prinzera, ☎ 39 0525 406808, 39 0525 39857, 39 0525 3100, fax: 39 0525 40753. 

Safety

Pharmacies

• Bertelè, Via Nazionale, 157, ☎ 39 0525 2360. 
• Del Taro, Via Nazionale, 82, ☎ 39 0525 2446. 

How to keep in touch

Post office

• Italian post, Via Nazario Sauro 12, ☎ 39 0525 2573, fax: 39 0525 30250. 

Around

• Bardone - His Pieve was one of the stops on the Via Francigena; there are preserved sculptures of the Antelamic school.
• Berceto - Its imposing Cathedral of ancient Romanesque foundation was one of the most important stops on the Via Francigena; ruins of the Rossi castle remain. The town retains a historic center with ancient prestigious buildings; it is an important service, trade and holiday center on the Cisa Pass road.
• Pass of the Cisa - One of the best known and most practiced Apennine passes since ancient times (the Via Francigena), it is very popular especially for out-of-town outings. The small sanctuary that stands there is dedicated to Our Lady of the Guard, nominated Patroness of sportsmen around the world in 1965.
• Parma - One of the major cities of art inEmilia, maintains with great evidence the aspect, elegance and ways of life of a capital, as it was for centuries. The Farnese della Pilotta palace, the Romanesque Cathedral, the Steccata church are some of the monumental emergencies that characterize the city; of great fame his theater, his musical tradition (Giuseppe Verdi), his school of painting (Correggio, Parmigianino), his love for good food (Parma ham, salami, Parmigiano Reggiano, Lambrusco).

Itineraries

• Castles of the Duchy of Parma and Piacenza - Scattered over the Parma and Piacenza Apennines, but also present in the plain to guard the natural border of the Po, the numerous castles of the ancient Duchy of Parma and Piacenza characterize the whole area. Originally military bulwarks, many of them have kept the appearance of an inaccessible fortress, many have gradually transformed their war nature into a refined noble residence; all perpetuate over time the atmosphere of adventure, fairytale and legend that has always been linked to castles, many of which tell of the presence of spirits and ghosts.
• Via Francigena

Other projects

• Wikipedia contains an entry concerning Fornovo di Taro
• Commons contains images or other files on Fornovo di Taro

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