Oglio Po - Oglio Po

Oglio Po it is an interprovincial district of the Lombardy.

To know

Geographical notes

Oglio Po is an interprovincial district of the Lower Lombard that embraces the territory enclosed between the Po and the Oglio, straddling the provinces of Cremona is Mantua. The main centers are Casalmaggiore is Viadana, both on the Po, which are also the co-capitals. Sabbioneta, bordering both, is the center of the district which represents a real one pearl tourist that boasts the title of World Heritage. awarded to it by Unesco in 2008.

Background

Always a land of water, the Oglio Po was an area of ​​swamps and woods, marshes and emerged lands, where rivers not harnessed by their banks periodically changed their course under the pressure of massive floods. In historical times the prehistoric settlements were replaced by the Roman centuriation with the rise of the first urban entities often born around the military camps, and later the first villages that grew up around the parish churches. Subject for a large part to the Contado of Brescia, it was also a Matildic land, where the Countess promoted the foundation of numerous churches and where, in the lands of Spineda, his father Bonifacio degli Attoni was killed by Scarpetta da Parma in 1052.It later became a border area between the municipalities of Cremona, Mantua, Parma, Brescia, Reggio, then again among the regional states of Milan, Mantua, Parma, Venice, now united, now dismembered under this or that dominant.

From the fifteenth century on part of the territory the power of the Gonzagas was consolidated, who created the small but artistically and culturally important Courts of Sabbioneta, Cocoon, Rivarolo Mantovano, Pomponesco, Gazzuolo, Commessage, San Martino dall'Argine, Viadana, Dovarese Island. Sporadically they had Casalmaggiore, later always claimed but never regained. For short periods some centers were in the possession of the Republic of Venice (Casalmaggiore was then nicknamed little Venice for its port and its trade).

Finally, the Austrian dominion recreated the territorial unity which had its crowning glory with the establishment of the province of Casalmaggiore in 1787, the territory of which was, however, a little wider than the current District.

The Unit dismembered the Oglio Po, which after the annexation of Mantua was divided in half between the provinces of Cremona and Mantua. The division between two distinct local authorities has prevented unitary interventions in the management of the territory; in the last decades of the twentieth century, however, we began to think in supra-provincial terms, a discourse that should see its full realization with the proposed abolition of the provincial body and the disappearance of the provincial borders that currently penalize the Oglio Po, which is also recognized as a homogeneous territory and with peculiar characteristics from the provincial administrations of Cremona and Mantua.

Spoken languages

A dialectal dialect developed along the Po river bank with its own autonomous characteristics distinct from the Cremonese and Mantuan dialects: the Casalasco Viadanese dialect, classified among the Emilian dialects and widespread among Martignana di Po, Casalmaggiore, Sabbioneta, Commessage, Viadana, Pomponesco, Dosolo. In the northern part of the district the speech has strong Cremonese influences in the Casalasco area and Mantuan in the Viadanese area.

Suggested readings

"Gonzaga itineraries" by Leandro Zoppè - Itinera Edizioni - Well written and documented book with admirable photographs, deals with 43 smaller towns of the Duchy of Mantua, presenting their historical and urban planning under the Gonzaga dynasty.

Territories and tourist destinations

The District brings together the territory Casalasco, which is headed by Casalmaggiore and includes the following municipalities: Ca 'd'Andrea, Calvatone, Casteldidone, Cingia de 'Botti, Halyard, Gussola, Dovarese Island, Martignana di Po, Motta Baluffi, Piadena, Rivarolo del Re and United, San Giovanni in Croce, San Martino del Lago, Scandolara Ravara, Solarolo Rainerio, Spineda, Back, Torre de 'Picenardi, Torricella del Pizzo, Voltido, and the territory Viadanese which belongs to Viadana and includes the municipalities of Cocoon, Commessage, Dosolo, Gazzuolo, Marcaria, Pomponesco, Rivarolo Mantovano, Sabbioneta, San Martino dall'Argine.

Urban centers

Other destinations

In the Oglio Po there are large expanses of river territory that preserve precious habitats subjected to protection and safeguarding by the State, the region or the provincial administrations.

How to get

By plane

They are Lombard airports:

• 45.6661869.7018081 Bergamo-Orio al Serio Airport (the Caravaggio), Via Aeroporto 13, Orio al Serio, ☎ 39 035 326323. 
• 45.638.7230562 Milan-Malpensa Airport (MXP), Ferno. The airport has two terminals (T1 and T2), the second is used for low cost flights. The bus service Motorway connects the airport with Milan central station in about 50 minutes, while the Malpensa Express it connects Terminal 1 with Cadorna station (red and green line underground) in 40 minutes. The buses of the Sadem is Motorway reach the city of Turin (2 hours), while the company Foxes make some trips for Genoa (3 hours). 
• Brescia Airport (D'Annunzio), Via Aeroporto 34, Montichiari (Connections with Brescia airport are guaranteed by public transport via the bus. The stop a Brescia city ​​is located at the bus station (number 23), while that of the airport is at the front of the terminal. There are also connections to the city of Verona via bus / shuttle line 1), ☎ 39 045 8095666, @[email protected]. Charter only 

The area is also affected by the airports of:

• Verona Airport (Catullus), Boxes of Sommacampagna, ☎ 39 045 8095666, @[email protected]. 
• Parma airport (G. Verdi), Via Emilia - Golese locality, ☎ 39 0521 951511. 
• Bologna airport, Via Triumvirato 84, ☎ 39 051 6479615. 

By car

• former Sabbionetana (Casalmaggiore-Mantua)
• former Asolana (Brescia-Parma)
• former Castelnovese (Casalmaggiore-Reggio Emilia)
• former Lower Padana (Cremona - Mantua)

• The Oglio Po area is crossed to the north by the important road artery of the former state road 10 Cremona - Mantua, which crosses perpendicularly with the former state road 383 Parma - Brescia in Piadena.

• In the southern part, Casalmaggiore constitutes the road junction on which all the roads of great national and provincial communication converge:
  • Parma –Brescia
  • Casalmaggiore – Mantua
  • Casalmaggiore - Cremona
  • Casalmaggiore - Reggio Emilia

The closest motorway exits are:

• Parma toll booth and Terre di Canossa toll booth on the Autostrada del Sole
• North Mantua toll booth and South Mantua toll booth on the Brenner motorway
• Cremona tollbooth on the highway Turin - Brescia

In anticipation (2013) are the Cremona - Mantua motorway which will affect the northern part of the District, and the TiBre motorway link (Tirreno - Brennero) which will vertically cross the territory and join the Cremona - Mantua near Piadena.

On boat

Occasionally tourist boats make organized tours docking at the river facilities of Casalmaggiore , Motta Baluffi or Viadana.

On the train

The Oglio Po railway junction consists of the station of Piadena, where the lines cross Cremona – Mantua (with links for Milan is Verona) is Parma –Brescia.

Important station for the area is Casalmaggiore.

Other centers served by the railway are San Giovanni in Croce, Cocoon is Torre de 'Picenardi.

By bus

Almost all the centers of Oglio Po are connected by bus lines to their respective provincial capitals. The major centers also have connections with the cities of Parma is Brescia.

How to get around

On boat

• Docking on the Po Canottieri Amici del Po Company - in Casalmaggiore - Lido Po
• Docking on the Po Società Canottieri Eridanea - in Casalmaggiore - Location Torretta
• Docking for pleasure boats - in Casalmaggiore - Lido Po
• Docking on the Po - a Motta Baluffi

By bike

To learn more, see: Cycle tourism in Lombardy.

What see

Tourist excellence is Sabbioneta, a walled city, with well-preserved walls, an irregular starry plan and powerful pentagonal bastions. It is the sixteenth-century dream of Vespasiano Gonzaga, who wanted to create the "ideal city" in this strip of Po land. Its palaces, churches, fortifications, theater, garden palace, squares and urban views are well worth a day's visit. The city is World Heritage Site since 2008, a title he won together with Mantua.

• Walls (TO Sabbioneta). 
• Olympic Theater (TO Sabbioneta). 
• Gallery of the Ancients (to Sabbioneta). 
• Incoronata Church (TO Sabbioneta). 
• Ducal Palace (TO Sabbioneta). 

Villas and castles

• Mina della Scala Palace (Castello Schizzi, Villa Mina) (TO Casteldidone). Palazzo Mina della Scala, Castello Schizzi, Villa Mina are the names that have been given from time to time to this fascinating castle building that embodies the grandeur of the castle and the elegance of the villa. Built in the sixteenth century, remodeled in the seventeenth century and then in the eighteenth century, the castle that became a palace and villa still looks majestic and fascinating in the countryside of Casteldidone, a short distance from the other splendid villa - castle of San Giovanni in Croce. 

• Villa Ferrari - Villa Lodi Bodini - Palazzo Ala Ponzone Casaglia (TO Gussola). Gussola has important examples of prestigious manor houses. Villa Ferrari, eighteenth century, reveals an older pre-existing structure, late sixteenth century. It was originally of the Magio counts, then of the Trecchi. Villa Lodi Bodini it has the appearance of the seventeenth and eighteenth century renovations with references to Venetian and Mantuan architecture. Ala Ponzone-Casaglia Palace it has a late eighteenth-century basic structure and is very reminiscent of the Villa Magio Trecchi del Vho in Piadena. In the twentieth century it underwent substantial demolitions. 

• Villa Medici del Vascello (TO San Giovanni in Croce). It is the castle of the Lady of the Ermine from the famous painting by Leonardo da Vinci. It was Cecilia Gallerani, the Lady of the portrait, who began her transformation from a military structure to a stately home, lightening the warlike aspect of its primitive fifteenth-century foundation. Important recent restoration works (2013) are taking care of the recovery to visitability and usability. Villa Medici is surrounded by a large park and a high wall that does not prevent you from seeing its elegant beauty. 

• San Lorenzo Castle (TO San Lorenzo de 'Picenardi). It has its roots in the fifteenth century; it was enlarged in the sixteenth century to then arrive at its present form, majestic and decidedly castellan, in the nineteenth century, the work of the architect Luigi Voghera. The vast building, in perfect condition, shows numerous crenellated towers which give it the characteristic medieval aspect, however mitigated by the elegant character of a noble castle residence. It is surrounded by a large park. 

• Villa Sommi Picenardi (TO Torre de 'Picenardi). The villa has developed from a pre-existing castle nucleus. Commissioned by the noble Picenardi family starting from the sixteenth century, it was later transformed in the following centuries up to its present appearance. A body of the villa, in neoclassical style, overlooks the town square. A second factory develops inside and is connected to the ancient body of the primitive castle. A large garden surrounds the villa complex, surrounded by a large moat with water. 

• Villa Magio Trecchi (A Vho's Piadena). In Vho di Piadena, which has now become a district of the capital, there is this beautiful neoclassical villa of the Magio Trecchi family, a building of imposing size and full of frescoed rooms with powerful images of celebration of the owner family. Surrounded by a garden, it was once much more equipped with a green area than today. Currently the villa is the seat of a retirement home. 

Shrines

• Madonna of the Fountain (TO Casalmaggiore). It contains in the crypt under the main altar a source believed to be miraculous ab immemorial. Tradition recalls the miracle of a blind man who regained his sight in 1360; in the following centuries, the end of the plagues was attributed to the Madonna della Fontana, in particular that of Manzoni. Built in 1463, the Sanctuary is the most important in Casalasco. Inside, a plaque in a side chapel remembers Parmigianino who died in Casalmaggiore and, according to tradition, is buried here.It preserves fragments of valuable frescoes, including one of the first depictions of Joan of Arc, and valuable altar frontals . 

• Our Lady of Grace (TO Vigoreto in the territory of Sabbioneta). The Sanctuary was built in 1547 around a pillar that carried a fresco of the Madonna considered miraculous. Almost immediately destroyed by a flood of the Po, it was rebuilt also by the Duke Vespasiano Gonzaga and entrusted to the Capuchins, until the convent and sanctuary was closed during the Napoleonic domination in 1797. It preserves the 14th century miraculous effigy of the Virgin and the 17th century wooden statues of San Giovanni Battista and San Giuseppe; the altarpiece with Madonna, Child and Saints; the original benches of the friars' choir; canvases of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. 
• Sanctuary of Ca 'de' Cervi (TO Derovere). On an embankment of the Delmona canal, in the territory of Derovere in the locality of Ca 'de' Cervi, stands the small sanctuary dedicated to Mary Mother of the Divine Word. The reason for its existence is linked to a miraculous fact that tradition places in 1650.The interior, with simple and elegant classic lines, has a single nave with cross vaults. The sanctuary is not really in the Oglio Po area, but is located right on the border of the Casalasca area of ​​the District, where it has a large number of faithful visitors. 

City of the Gonzaga

There are many centers of Oglio Po which owe their urban form to the Gonzaga domination. In addition to the masterpiece Sabbioneta they are distinguished by the important monumental and urban interventions and offer several monuments of sure interest.

A Commessaggio

• Torrazzo Gonzaghesco. It characterizes the panorama of Commessaggio, with its 28 meters in height, and 10 meters by 13 at the base, it stands out imposingly in the linear and flat landscape of the plain and countryside of the town, of which it has always been the undisputed symbol. Gonzaga Duca di Sabbioneta, when Commessaggio was part of his possessions, this tower was born not so much as a defense tool, but as a symbol of power by the Duke. Until the eighteenth century it was isolated; later the houses were built against it. 
• Municipal building. It is the ancient palace built by Vespasiano Gonzaga starting from 1583. On the ground floor a Gonzaga portico, with seven openings, lightens the linear and sober facade. On the central face protrudes a balcony, above which the Civic Tower rises, which moderately streamlines the building.

It is contemporary with the ancient bridge, the Torrazzo and the primitive church; three important urban interventions that had the purpose of sanctioning the dominion of Duke Vespasiano Gonzaga over the town, who obtained it at the expense of his cousins San Martino dall'Argine, appealing to inheritance rights. 

To Gazzuolo

• Gonzagheschi arcades. They are the symbol of the town and with their 120 meters of length they can be considered the most extensive work among the numerous buildings commissioned by the Gonzagas, who made the town one of their capitals; the arcades exceed for example by 20 meters the development of the most famous Gallery of the Ancients in Sabbioneta. Their construction dates back to the early sixteenth century and were commissioned by Ludovico Gonzaga.They consist of thirty arches, made up of Verona marble columns, which have the characteristic of being different from each other in architectural style and related ornaments. Each of the thirty fields was once equipped with a brick cruise; the cruises were eliminated during a restoration in 1933. The last conservative intervention took place in 2001. 
• Oratory of San Rocco. It is in the Baroque style. It dates back to the early seventeenth century, and must have been part of a larger religious complex. The apse preserves a painting depicting San Rocco, which has two young Gonzaga princes who were its patrons next to it. A painting by an unknown artist depicts the Madonna del Pilar, an indication of the relations that the Gonzagas had with Spanish society. 
• Oratory of San Pietro (in the hamlet of Belforte). It appears in an ancient document of exchange of assets dating back to 966. Cardinal Pirro Gonzaga, son of Gianfrancesco Gonzaga and Antonia del Balzo, founders of the Gazzuolo dynasty, in 1506 donated an oratory and monastic complex to the Gerolimini. Probably in this period it was transformed, as well as the adjacent convent, and began to be used as the Pantheon of the Gonzaga; there are also tombstones of noble characters, such as members of the Pico family (whose main branch ruled Mirandola), as well as the tomb of Antonio del Balzo, wife of Gianfrancesco Gonzaga, initiator of the Gazzuolo dynasty. Antonia Del Balzo is remembered by history as a woman of admirable culture, who favored the arts and cultural expressions and who hosted at her court the best names of the culture of the time. 

At Isola Dovarese

• Square. The scenic piazza di Isola was commissioned by Giulio Cesare Gonzaga, designed by the architect Brunelli and built in a quadrilateral shape around 1590. The Renaissance creation and large straight portico, a characteristic all Gonzaga, was later completed by the Palazzo Pretorio, now the town hall, and from the theater, as other Gonzaga a Cocoon it's at Sabbioneta. The square, one of the most beautiful in Oglio Po, is reminiscent of the pure Gonzaga square of Pomponesco. The districts of Isola, which have developed around this fulcrum, compete every year in September in the famous Palio delle Contrade to compete for the màgher, coveted trophy. Feud of the Dovara from which it took the attribute dovarese, Isola then belonged to the Cavalcabò family and finally to the Gonzagas to whom it submitted of its own will to put an end to the continuous struggles for its possession. 

To Pomponesco

• Piazza XXIII Aprile. The splendid square, which opens up vast and scenographic at the foot of the Po embankment, is the scenario that best describes the urban intervention carried out by the Gonzagas; unfortunately the castle that bordered the opposite side has disappeared. Its construction coincides with the period of greatest splendor of Pomponesco, the second half of the 16th century, when Giulio Cesare Gonzaga made it the seat of his court for about twenty years. The town was rebuilt according to the canons of the time, which longed for the ideal city, whose greatest example of Gonzaga was the Sabbioneta of Vespasiano Gonzaga, as well as - in a minor form - other Gonzaga centers such as, for example, Cocoon, San Martino dall'Argine, Rivarolo Mantovano, Guastalla etc. 

In Rivarolo Mantovano

• Finzi Square. The square, once called Piazza Grande, rectangular in shape, porticoed on two sides as per a Gonzaga characteristic, it is the administrative and social center of the town. Beautiful and sober buildings face you; the Palazzo Pretorio (now the Town Hall); the Clock Tower with a through door; Palazzo Penci, extremely in need of restoration. The characteristic Gonzaga arcades retain an older stretch on the east side, where you can see more squat columns and lower arches. It is in this section that the Synagogue is located. The Gonzaga square is the fulcrum of Rivarolo Mantovano which owes its physiognomy to Vespasiano Gonzaga, who here experimented the construction of the Ideal city which he then completed with the neighbor Sabbioneta. Its urban layout, in a checkerboard pattern, its city gates, the round of the walls for the remaining part, the buildings, the views make it a timeless center. 
• Palazzo Pretorio. It leans on both sides of the Clock Tower, the oldest building. The Palace has large rooms with coffered ceilings, and was the seat of the Monte di Pietà. It now houses the Town Hall and the Sanguanini Cultural Foundation.

The latest restoration brought to light the date 1609 under the tower clock and some eighteenth-century decorations; in the palace plasters and Renaissance decorations. The clock is still in working order and retains the original eighteenth-century mechanism. 

• Penci Palace. It majestically delimits almost the entire south side of the square, with a large facade and ashlar arcades. At the center of the arcades, the main entrance leads to the loggia and the hall of honor, now incorporated into houses. On the upper floors there are the court theater and large rooms; the palace was unfortunately completely stripped during the Napoleonic domination. 

In San Martino dall'Argine

• Gonzaga arcades. They magnificently frame the Piazza Castello and part of the main street of the town, giving the center the characteristic physiognomy of the Gonzaga courts. They were built in the seventeenth century. The oldest part still retains the cross vaults, fortunately preserved unlike what happened in the neighboring Gonzaga arcades. Gazzuolo, where they were eliminated during a restoration. The arches are supported not by columns, as in Gazzuolo, but by squared and massive pillars, which give the whole an almost military aspect, while overall resulting soberly elegant and harmonious in their geometric order. 
• Church of Saints Fabiano and Sebastiano (Church of the friars). It is used instead of the Parish Church. It is called Church of the Friars in memory of its origin as a temple of a monastic complex, even if it was built prior to the convent. The terracotta façade dates back to 1489; However, it retains Romanesque hanging arches, pinnacles on the tympam and a central rose window. Another testimony of its ancient construction, which is indicated in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, is the elegant brick bell tower with a rounded spire and mullioned windows. Ancient frescoes have been discovered in the apse, probably dating back to the time of construction of the church, of which an excerpt has been brought to light. 

Museums

• Bijou Museum (In Casalmaggiore). The only one of its kind in Italy, it exhibits equipment and machinery for the production of gold-plated costume jewelery as well as hundreds of objects made in the late nineteenth century - early decades of the twentieth century. 

• Diotti Museum (In Casalmaggiore). It collects local works of art and houses the town picture gallery in the building that was the home of the Casalasco painter Giuseppe Diotti (1779 - 1846) who from 1811 to 1840 was Director of the Carrara Academy of Bergamo. 
• ^{[link not working]}Mu.Vi. (In Viadana). The Palazzo del Mu.Vi constitutes a real cultural center of the city. In fact, it houses the Luigi Parazzi Municipal Library, the Ancient Book Fund with important manuscripts and incunabula, the Historical Archive, the Civic Gallery of Contemporary Art, the Permanent Collection of works of the twentieth century, the Adolfo Ghinzelli City Museum where the cultural testimonies of the territory and the Antonio Parazzi Civic Museum with its fossil, archaeological, bronzes and Roman artefacts heritage as well as an important numismatic collection, the Pinacoteca of works by local artists from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century, the Collection di Tessuti, the Lodovico Viadana Fund and the Music Room, a space for concerts. 
• Platina Museum (In Piadena). It collects important prehistoric finds from the Oglio Po area, as well as Roman finds from the ancient Bedriacum, whose excavations continue annually in Calvatone. Keep the famous Labyrinth, mosaic floor, and a copy of the equally famous one Winged Victory. 

Archaeological areas

• Excavations of Bedriacum (TO Calvatone). It is the area where the Roman city of Bedriacum stood, historically known for the battles of 69 AD. between the armies of Galba, Otone and Vitellius. Every year excavation campaigns are held on the site of the ancient city by the University of Milan. On that occasion, guided tours of the excavations in progress are organized, at times and days that are previously disclosed. 

Itineraries

• Historic villages of the Po - The itinerary, from west to east or vice versa, leads to know some historic villages that rise near the "great river".

What to do

At the table

The traditional dishes of Oglio Po are influenced by the Parmesan, Mantuan and Cremonese influences, but they have reworked those culinary traditions by introducing local variations, for example in the composition of the fillings for stuffed pasta, or of the stuffing for cured meats. stewed donkey, frogs and river fish.

• Marubini (tortellini with meat filling, in broth)
• Blisgòni (pumpkin tortelli)
• Tortelli with herb
• Donkey stew with polenta
• Frogs in omelette
• Fried catfish
• Fried river fish
• Boiled
• Roasts
• Sausages
• Grana Padano
• Sbrisolona cake or hard cake

Drinks

• Lambrusco

Safety

• 44.987910.423 Command of the Carabinieri Company, via Cavour 68 (in Casalmaggiore), ☎ 39 0375 42000. 
• 44.92502610.5212574 Command of the Carabinieri Company, Via Circonvallazione Fosse 17 (in Viadana), ☎ 39 0375 820400. 
• 44.9822510.419575 Police, via Porzio 148 (in Casalmaggiore), ☎ 39 0375 42288. 
• 44.975410.46776 Oglio Po Hospital, via Staffolo 51 (in Vicomoscano (Casalmaggiore)), ☎ 39 0375 2811. 
• 44.983110.41887 Public Assistance Association - remote assistance, via Porzio 93 (in Casalmaggiore), ☎ 39 0375 201000. 
• 44.983110.41888 Ambulance A.V.I.S. Casalasca, via Porzio 93 (in Casalmaggiore), ☎ 39 0375 41371. 
• 44.93979110.5370129 Green Cross Zone Oglio Po - Public voluntary assistance, via Grazzi 21 (in Viadana), ☎ 39 0375 781120.