| Torrechiara | ||
 | ||
| State | Italy | |
|---|---|---|
| Region | Emilia Romagna | |
| Territory | Parma | |
| Altitude | 221 m a.s.l. | |
| Inhabitants | 250 (2010 estimate) | |
| Prefix tel | 39 0521 | |
| POSTAL CODE | 43010 | |
| Time zone | UTC 1 | |
Position
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Torrechiara is a center ofEmilia Romagna.
To know
The town is known above all for the mighty and spectacular Castle built by Pier Maria Rossi for Bianca Pellegrini. It is part of the municipality of Langhirano, capital of the production area of Parma ham.It is one of the most important stages in a hypothetical path among the castles of the Parma hills which also includes Pellegrino Parmense, Compiano, Scipio, Varano de 'Melegari, Bar of, Corniglio.
Geographical notes
It is located on the first Apennine reliefs, where the Parma Po valley ripples to become a hill, 18 km away. from Parma
Background
Torrechiara is inextricably linked to its castle and to the events of the Rossi family, originally from Berceto, which managed to build a large domain in the Parma lands from the hills to the Po. The castle was commissioned by Pier Maria Rossi as a homage and loving celebration for Bianca Pellegrini, like the plain castle built in Roccabianca.
The luck of the Reds rests above all on protection and alliance with the Visconti. But when the Sforza family took the place of the Viscontis, the family's fortune failed. The Sforzas pushed the nobility to rebel against the power of the Rossi, who lost their numerous castles one by one Torrechiara was the last to surrender, a year after the death of Pier Maria Rossi in 1482.
With the advent of the Duchy of Parma, then always followed the fate. The importance of its position in control of the Val Parma, an important route of traffic and trade between theEmilia, the Tuscany and the Liguria through the Apennine passes.
How to orient yourself
Torrechiara: full screen map.The castle stands on top of a relief that rises above the small inhabited center. The car must be left in the parking lots of the town, from which you set off on the paved road that reaches the manor with a not particularly difficult climb.
How to get
By plane
- 1 Parma airport (G. Verdi), Via Emilia - Golese locality, ☎ 39 0521 951511, fax: 39 0521 980394, @[email protected].
- 2 Bologna airport (G.Marconi), Via Triumvirato 84, ☎ 39 051 6479615.
By car
Parma motorway exit on the Autostrada del Sole
It is located on the former Strada Statale 665 Massese, now provincial road that runs from Parma the whole Val Parma up to Tuscany.
Parma motorway exit on the Autostrada del Sole
It is located on the former Strada Statale 665 Massese, now provincial road that runs from On the train
Railway station a Parma
Railway station a By bus
Suburban bus n. 12 from the square of the Parma railway station in Langhirano; ran hourly
Suburban bus n. 12 from the square of the Parma railway station in Langhirano; ran hourlyHow to get around
The smallness of the village at the foot of the castle means that the visit takes place only on foot. The climb to the castle is also pedestrian, through an asphalted road with an easy path.
What see
1 Castle. 
November to February from Monday to Friday 9 am / 4.30 pm - Saturday and holidays 10 am / 5 pm; from March to October from Wednesday to Saturday 8.30-19.30; Tuesday, Sunday and holidays from 10.30 to 11.30 - Closed on Mondays.. _-_WGA01854.jpg/220px-Benedetto_Bembo_-_Pier_Maria_and_Bianca_Struck_by_the_Arrows_of_Amor_(detail)_-_WGA01854.jpg)
Camera d'Oro - The frescoed castle
November to February from Monday to Friday 9 am / 4.30 pm - Saturday and holidays 10 am / 5 pm; from March to October from Wednesday to Saturday 8.30-19.30; Tuesday, Sunday and holidays from 10.30 to 11.30 - Closed on Mondays.. _-_WGA01854.jpg/220px-Benedetto_Bembo_-_Pier_Maria_and_Bianca_Struck_by_the_Arrows_of_Amor_(detail)_-_WGA01854.jpg)
The Torrechiara fortress stands majestically and mighty on a rocky elevation on the right of the Parma. It was built between 1448 and 1460 by Pier Maria Rossi in the place where rudimentary military fortifications existed since ancient times. If the defensive function is amply demonstrated by the castle structure, with three circles of walls, four corner towers, drawbridge, overhanging location, its residential character is also evident, denounced by the richness of the frescoes and grotesques by Cesare Baglione. The first wall surrounded the hill on which the castle stands, the second the village, the third the real fortress. Each turn of the walls was equipped with a drawbridge; a moat surrounded the village, another the castle. The towers, equipped with loopholes, machicolations and battlements, ensured further protection. They are still square towers, as in medieval times.
Despite being a formidable military structure, it has many windows because it was also a sumptuous residence for the lover Bianca Pellegrini, for which Pier Maria Rossi has another castle residence built in Roccabianca, a town of its territories located in the plains on the bank of the Po. At the foot of the castle is the village ancient, whose houses have retained their medieval appearance. Numerous wineries in these homes produce and sell local wines. In the village there is the church of San Lorenzo, whose primitive construction dates back to the 12th century. Pier Maria Rossi in the fifteenth century had another built on the same site as the old one, which was transformed in the eighteenth century when its orientation was reversed, building the entrance instead of the apse and vice versa. The last interventions are those of 1831, when the facade and the bell tower were rebuilt due to a landslide. The current building is very simple. The visit will allow you to see and appreciate above all the Golden Room, which was the bedroom of the two famous lovers Pier Maria and Bianca, and was decorated by Pier Maria himself.
It is the only room that has not been reworked by the Sforza di Santa Fiori owners who took over the possession of the manor after its client.
The legend On foggy nights, but full moon nights, the ghost of a beautiful duchess who had been walled up alive by her husband wanders the castle passionately kissing all the men she meets. She won't stop wandering until she finds her husband. It is not known what will happen to the husband.
- 2 Benedictine Abbey of Santa Maria della Neve.
La badia: the cloisterAlso for the Badia Pier Maria Rossi plays a leading role, since he was the client in 1471. He had it built for his natural son Ugolino, who was abbot of the Monastery of San Giovanni Evangelista. Construction already started, in 1473, he asked Pope Sixtus IV for authorization for the construction, which arrived on time. The church was consecrated in 1479 and the building complex consisted, in addition to the church, of the bell tower, the dormitory, the cemetery, the refectory, and the cloister, garden, vegetable garden and other accessories that allowed to host a community of about twenty monks. of the Congregation of Santa Giustina da Padova, the convent was suppressed in 1810 under the Napoleonic domination, then again in 1866. The monumental complex incorporated a pre-existing Romanesque church to which a late Gothic terracotta cornice and a rose window on the facade were added. The single nave interior has two chapels on the right; on the pillar that separates them there is one Madonna and Child from the end of the fifteenth century which is attributed to Jacopo Loschi or to Francesco Sacconi. The other decorations are from the eighteenth century. In the cloister of the convent the capitals recall those of the honor courtyard of the castle; around it there are frescoed rooms. The refectory also has frescoes, with subjects of landscapes and architecture. An eighteenth-century belvedere overlooks the Parma stream. An internal laboratory sells products obtained according to ancient traditions: honey, pollen, royal jelly, herbal teas, creams. La Badia also offers hospitality (25 beds), cared for by the monks assisted by some nuns of Assisi.
La badia: a fresco
Events and parties
- Feast of fools. First Sunday of September. A kind of medieval carnival. You can visit the castle for free, surrounded by the crowd of fire eaters, acrobats, puppeteers, musicians who converge in the village to animate this day of medieval revival.
- Medieval festival. June 2nd. Also on this occasion you can visit the castle for free and it too is accompanied by a whole series of events and typical medieval revival shows.
What to do
Shopping
- Parma ham - (the municipal capital Langhirano is the heart of the production area)
- Felino salami - the heart of the production area, Feline, is not far away
- Local wines - Lambrusco and Malvasia typical of the area
How to have fun
Where to eat
- 1 Benedictine Abbey of Santa Maria della Neve, Via della Badia, 28, ☎ 39 0521 355017, fax: 39 0521 355133.
- 2 Castle Tavern, Strada del Castello, 25, ☎ 39 0521 355015, fax: 39 0521 355849, @[email protected].
- 3 Torrechiara Restaurant Pizzeria, Via Badia, 5, ☎ 39 0521 355292, fax: 39 0521 355863.
Where stay
- 1 Benedictine Abbey of Santa Maria della Neve, via della Badia 28, ☎ 39 0521 355017, fax: 39 0521 355133. in the sixteenth-century Abbey - full board only. Always open. No pets
- 2 [link not working]From Gardoni, Piazza Leoni, 5, ☎ 39 0521 355119 - 0521 355238, fax: 39 0521 355310, @[email protected].
Safety
Pharmacies
- 3 Bergonzi, Via V.Veneto, 1 (in the capital Langhirano), ☎ 39 0521 861100.
- 4 Of the Middle, Via Giuseppe Mazzini, 25 (in the capital Langhirano), ☎ 39 0521 858507.
- 5 Municipal Pastorello, Strada Monchio, 6 / A (in Pastorello di Langhirano), ☎ 39 0521 854197.
- 6 Pillar, Via Provinciale, 15 (in the locality of Pilastro), ☎ 39 0521 639056.
How to keep in touch
Post office
- 7 Post Office, Piazzale Marconi 14 (TO Lesignano de 'Bagni; about 2 km), ☎ 39 0521 850596, fax: 39 0521 850596.
- 8 Post Office, Provincial Road Torrechiara 3 / A (A Pillar; about 2 km), ☎ 39 0521 639468, fax: 39 0521 639468.
Around
- Badia Cavana in the territory of Lesignano de 'Bagni - One of the many Romanesque churches of which the Parma area is rich; restored, it is occasionally used for conferences or cultural events. The adjoining convent and the cloister require radical recovery interventions.
- Parma - One of the major cities of art inEmilia, it 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).
- Colorno - Its Royal Palace belonged to the Sanseverino family, then to the Farnese family, to Maria Luigia of Austria, to the Bourbons; it is by far the most important monument of this little Versailles Parma, which also offers a small but beautiful historic center, close to the Lorno stream that gives it its name and Parma, not far from the Po.
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.
Other projects
Wikipedia contains an entry concerning Torrechiara
Commons contains images or other files on Torrechiara
