“Forestavventura” in Luzzara is an amazing adrenaline park located on secular trees in the Po natural area. Inside the park, you will find acrobatic routes for all ages! Forestavventura is equipped with a kiosk bar and a leisure area with tables - in the shade of majestic secular oaks.
Inaugurated in 2007, the Archeological Museum collects a series of artifacts found in Brescello between the 18th and the 19th century.
One of the gastronomic excellences of the territory is represented by the Traditional Balsamic Vinegar, a historical product already mentioned by the Benedictine monk Abate Donizone in 1046, in his literary composition “Vita Mathildis”.
The mid-19th century Basilica stands on the ruins of previous churches, which were also named after the Saint. It was designed by architect L. Panizzi Moriglio, built between 1871 and 1883, and consecrated in the same year.
The House Museum Al Belvedere “Pietro Ghizzardi” has its seat in the house where the artist spent the last years of his life. The atmosphere in which the painter and writer spent his days and created – from the mid 70s until his death in 1986 – has been preserved intact in this place.
Palazzo Bentivoglio was built on the structure of an ancient castle. The complex consisted of a large quadrangular structure surrounded by deep moats at the four corners and included towers. The entire complex enclosed a large courtyard.
On June 2001, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the first film, two bronze statues created by Andrea Zangani were placed in Piazza Matteotti: the one depicting Don Camillo close to the church, the one representing Peppone in front of the town hall.
In a place that was part of the side structures of the old bridge made up of barges, which connected Boretto and Viadana, the son of the last “capopontiere” (master builder) collected the most significant pictures of the bridge over time and rebuilt part of it (1:10 scale).
Catfish is a typical species of stagnant or slow-flowing waters characterized by a soft and muddy seabed. It is also able to adapt to extreme conditions, in warm and low-oxygen water. For these reasons, as well as for the sapidity of its meat, it is bred in extensive fish farming ponds.
Down the street “contrada dei Servi” (now called “Vittorio Veneto”), in the south-west corner of the square, stands the “Chiesa dei Servi”, a religious building constructed with the financial support of notary Camillo Farnetti, from Novellara, and the legacy of 100 “scudi d’oro” (a type of coin used in the Italian peninsula) given by Count Alessandro Gonzaga.
Also known as the church of the former hospital or church of the “Conventino”. It was built at the end of the 15th century by the will of Caterina Pico - Marquis of Luzzara Rodolfo Gonzaga’s wife. It was nearly destroyed to the foundations and reconstructed between 1764 and 1771. Fortunately, the 15th-century apse has been left intact. The sacristy hosts the remains of a funerary monument - dedicated to Luigi Gonzaga, who died in 1570 - partially destroyed by a fire in 1918. In the upper part of the monument, in the very centre, it is possible to admire the Gonzaga coat of arms - borne up by two putti and dominated by a two-headed crowned eagle. The monument stands on an architrave borne by two large statues: a Caryatid and an Atlas. From the centre, under the ledge and borne by a lion’s head, a fruit festoon passes over the Caryatids and descends towards the outer sides, up to the large corbel of the base, where two eagles are placed. The monument also housed a plaque dedicated to Luigi Gonzaga. Frescoes of historical and artistic interest have been recently discovered under the adjacent porch.
The original structure of the church of Poviglio, probably dating back to the eleventh century, had to be about as the current church but incorporated in the castle. It was accessible only by the lord of the castle through a door on the side.
The building is based on a 15th-century Oratory - rebuilt in 1578 and again in 1760. It is located in “Via Matteotti” - the main street of the town - and its distinctive feature is the statue representing the “Madonnina nella roccia”. Actually, the people living in Reggiolo also refer to it as the church of the “Madonnina di Lourdes”. It has a high slender facade enclosed by Doric pilasters, completed by a curvilinear pediment. The belfry has single-light windows and a cuspidate roof. The interior is characterized by an unusual quadrangular hall, an elliptic dome supported by columns and semi-columns and a “cupolino” (smaller dome).
It was back in 1716 when, after several requests, the Villa Arzenago community got permission from reigning Duke of Modena Rinaldo III, to build a church dedicated to the “Santa Croce” (Holy Cross).
Already planned in Cornelio Bentivoglio's projects, as a noble chapel, the initial church was octagonal in plan.
The facade was designed by Giovan Battista Aleotti in 1599 and built in 1600.
The Church, formerly built in medieval times and then rebuilt between 1829 and 1837, hosts the famous "talking Christ" of the Don Camillo and Peppone films, created by the sculptor Bruno Avesani, and also contains valuable works by the local painter, Carlo Zatti, and sculptor Carlo Pisi.
The “pieve” (Parish) of Novellara was probably established in the 5th century.
At the end of the portico (porch) in “Via Cavour”, near the square, there is a religious building dedicated to the Holy Virgin Mary - called “Chiesa della B.V. del Popolo” - whose first symbolic stone was placed by Count Camillo III Gonzaga, on November 11, 1704.
It is the oldest religious building in Guastalla and one of the oldest in the province. Dating back, in its primitive form, before the X century, it is now dedicated to the Saint Apostles Peter and Paul.
It was built by Giulio Borromeo in 1600 and consecrated in 1607. Damaged several times, it was restored in the 18th century to a design by Antonio Filippi.
The original building - located further east - has been affected by frequent floods of the river Po that seriously compromised its stability. A new one was built between 1653 and 1670. The church interior has a single nave, with six side chapels. The vault was entirely restored between 1914 and 1915, as well as a large part of the Temple.
The Hall hosts some Art Nouveau frescoes by M. Nizzoli.
Palazzo Ducale is Guastalla’s most representative monument.
On the ground floor on the western side of the Gonzaga Castle in Novellara, in the second half of the 16th century, a court theatre was designed and richly decorated by Lelio Orsi on the occasion of the wedding of Alfonso I Gonzaga with Vittoria from Capua.
The museum, is located on the noble floor of the fortress of Novellara, and develops along thirteen exhibition halls, five of which are dedicated to Lelio Orsi, for forty years artist of the Gonzaga. Here his frescoes can be admired.
In the village of Santa Vittoria - in Gualtieri - stands a large building constructed between 1770 and 1775 by the family of the noble Greppi from Milano - who had received a large agricultural estate in the area from the Estensi Counts. The palace is placed in the very centre of the village: its location and volume have affected the entire configuration of Santa Vittoria, preventing the construction of a square
In the lowlands, next to the Po river, there is a theater, without a stage, in which actors and the public can dialogue in a new way.
Opened on June 2009, the museum - together with the overall museum system - was conceived as a place to gather testimonies related to the past activities of the country.
Honey has always been one of the typical products of the Bassa Reggiana territories.
The river Po flows 1 km from the city and can be easily reached from the tree-lined avenue that gently enters the wide "Guastallese flood plain". In addition to housing restaurants, sports and entertainment facilities on its shore, the Guastalla bank of the river also offers trekking and horse-riding routes, completely immersed in an exuberant nature thanks to the important system of cycle-pedestrian tracks.
From documents dating back to 1813, it seems that the “Società Teatrale di Luzzara” (Luzzara Theatre Company) bought a rural building - used as a granary - to transform it into the current theatre. Even though the adaptation works began immediately, the theatre was only open to the public on October 2, 1852, with the staging of the opera “I Capuleti e i Montecchi” by Vincenzo Bellini.
The old Gonzaga palace was built around 1481. Originally - with its auxiliary buildings - it occupied the entire area south of the Luzzara Castle, between the Parish church and the actual seat of the Town Hall. The war culminating in the battle that took place on August 15, 1702, though, caused the destruction of part of the building. After the Gonzaga, it served as a Public Palace for centuries, and then it was abandoned until the Unification of Italy.
The north wing of the main floor of the Doge's Palace houses the Maldotti Quadreria, a selection of about fifty paintings belonging to the collection of the historic Maldotti Library. The works are exhibited in a process focused on the formation of the collection over time that highlights the link between the collection and the territory and collecting in the Guastallese area. Frames the beautiful Palazzo Ducale, the most representative monument of the city.
The ancient Piazza Maggiore: this is how the current Piazza Mazzini was historically named, on which the most significant buildings of ducal, civil and religious power stand out.
Following a legacy by the Duchess Eleonora d'Este, in the second half of the 15th century, the Benedictine nuns became owners of the Monastery, until the advent of the Cisalpine Republic. Then, in 1758, the religious order was suppressed. As early as 1553, the Monastery was home to a school for convent girls. Later, in 1798, the Monastery was suppressed. In 1873, the Municipality of Brescello became owner of the building and transformed it into a military barrack. At the beginning of the 20th century, the building wing overlooking “Via Primo Maggio” was used as an elementary school, whereas most of the building was residential or the seat of small workshops. In 1933, the south and west wings were demolished, while the main body of the building housed the “Casa del Fascio”, and served as a location for meetings and orchestra rehearsals.
The river Po is placed in an area of ancient borders, transit for armies, and also represented a passageway for pilgrims from north to south. It is a land of cultural and gastronomic contamination where food acquires a specific identity through its own flavour.
The "Piccolo Museo della Moto" of Emilio Bariaschi collects - in four pavilions - 160 pieces and 34 different brands related to the Italian and European motorcycle industry.
The municipal Acetaia, where the precious Balsamic Vinegar ages, is located in the attic of the east wing of the Gonzaga Castle, in the heart of the historic center of Novellara.
It was founded in 1967, after the first edition of the Prize conceived by Cesare Zavattini - a famous writer, screenwriter and journalist from Luzzara - and located in the former Augustinian Convent (Church of the SS. Annunziata, in “località Villa Superiore”).
This territory is characterized by canals, ditches, basins and cultivated fields - an ideal place for group walks or solo bike rides.
In the past, the entire northern portion of Novellara country was occupied by extensive marshes and riverbeds. The great reclamation works have progressively dried up the marshes but still today the landscape shows that ancient dominion of the waters.
Onion – whose scientific name is Allium cepa – has ancient roots, given the fact that records date back to ancient Egypt, where it began to be cultivated, in the 4th millennium B.C.
It was probably built at the end of the 11th century, in Romanesque style, and renovated several times. It was rebuilt from 1676 in Baroque style - except for the apse, which is still Romanesque. In 2000, crypt excavations led to several findings, such as capitals, columns and frescoes from the original Romanesque building and shards dating back to the previous period. Inside, it preserves some 16th-century paintings, such as the altarpiece portraying the “Vergine col Bambino tra S. Giorgio e S. Girolamo” (Giuliesca School) modeled after a sketch by Giulio Romano kept in the Louvre Museum.
Thanks to the efforts and enthusiasm of a group of volunteers in the country, led by Erminio Bertoli, on April 16th, 1989, the Peppone and Don Camillo Museum was inaugurated. An interesting space where you can immerse yourself in the past, letting yourself be guided by movie posters, deepen news, learn anecdotes and admire unique images and original memorabilia, primarily the sidecar bike. In addition, at the museum, there is an assorted bookshop.
Piazza Unità d'Italia is the heart of the town, dotted with historic shops and the scene of parties and markets. It is a large rectangular area, enclosed by Renaissance porches and the imposing Collegiate Church - on the west side.
The waters of the river Po have been inhabited by this fish for so long that Luzzara ended up being named after it. In the past, the town was known as Luciara, which indeed derived from the word Luccio (Pike).
PO 432, the “Museo-Cantiere del Po, della navigazione interna e del governo delle acque” is located on the river Po banks, in Boretto - exactly 432 kilometers far from the source on the Monviso.
Constructed in 1769, it was designed at the end of the 16th century – during the Bentivoglio reclamation works - to replace the wooden bridge over the Crostolo stream.
Pumpkin is a typical vegetable of the Bassa Reggiana lands, with many different varieties.
The painter Ruggero Giorgi was born in 1887, into a farming family. After the artistic apprenticeship at the “Cignaroli” Academy in Verona (1910), during 1912, he lived in Munich for five months - where he attended Heinrich Knirr’s courses and approached German expressionism. Later, he spent a brief period in Paris and came into contact with some avant-garde artistic movements: Cubism, Abstractism and Fauvism.
The “Museo della Civiltà Contadina” is part of a larger project, promoted by the Municipal Administration. Thanks to the enthusiasm and expertise of some volunteers (Association “Brugneto C’è”) and to the generosity of many donors, the Museum has rapidly begun to take shape - in an area of the “Braccianti di Brugneto” Civic Centre. The museum consists of equipment and a variety of tools used by farmers in the previous centuries.
At the end of Corso Cavour stands the Sanctuary of the Blessed Virgin of the Fossetta, built in 1654. Built according to a design by the architect Gian Battista Negri, it has a Greek cross with a central dome, a small dome and three altars.
The 17th-century “Santuario della Beata Vergine della Porta” is a religious building of great interest due to the Baroque architecture of its interior, constructed by the will of Duke Ferrante III.
On the south side, Piazza Martiri (“Martiri” square) is enclosed by the imposing 18th-century Palazzo Sartoretti. Originally built in the 16th century, it was modified in 1765 by the homonymous rich family who lived there. In 1979, it was donated to the Municipality by the last descendant of the family.
The Museum-Laboratory was created in 2003 within the environments of the Primary School of the Comprehensive Institute "F. Gonzaga "with the purpose of experiencing our history. The museum consists of two rooms in which two classrooms have been reproduced: one in the first half of the 1900s and the other after the second post-war period. Original furnishings and teaching materials are preserved, as well as school documents from 1843-1970.
The birth of Poviglio is linked to a Roman legend according to which the founders were two PUPILII, two orphans, represented in the municipal coat of arms by two putti, hence the name of the city.
The historical centre of Reggiolo is placed near the medieval Fortress. The Fortress was constructed around the high tower dating back to 1242, which later became the central keep of the fortified complex known as “Castrum Novum” - to distinguish it from the older one, located beyond the so-called “Tagliata”. The castle has a quadrangular plan, with a ca. 40-meter wall per side, four angular towers - of which two more protruding, placed on the south side.
The gualtieri flood plain offers significant opportunities from the naturalistic point of view in the different seasons of the year. The territory enclosed between the master's embankment and the Po riverbed is very complex and diversified, including both naturalistic and anthropological aspects.
The Golena is a site of important naturalistic value consisting of a stretch of about 10 km of the right floodplain of the Po River, close to the border with Lombardy.
In the Po floodplain, there are places known only to those fishermen and boatmen who explore the river bends. One of these places is the “Porto Vecchio” (old port), where nowadays it is possible to find the wreck of a tugboat and two small boats (bettoline), later bombed by an allied plane in spring 1944.
The “Sbrisolona” is an ancient recipe, dating back to the time of the Gonzaga family. Nevertheless, it has poor origins, since it was - and still is - prepared with typical ingredients of the rural tradition. Its name derives from the local dialect, precisely because it is very crumbly. According to the modern recipe, flours (white flour and cornmeal) and sugar should be added in equal parts - this explains why it was also known as cake “delle tre tazze” (three cups). In addition, the ingredients should not be chopped up. On the contrary, the irregular consistency - due to both the quick preparation and the coarse-cut almonds - is the main characteristic of this cake.
The white poplar, a distinctive element of the landscape of the territory close to the river Po, brings us back to the myth of Fetonte who dragged in his crazy flight on the cart of his father Elios fell into the river Po. His desperate sisters were transformed by gods pity in and into lithe white poplars and their tears in the precious amber.
The Zucchella Plum is a small and firm, but also really juicy fruit. The origin of its name seems to derive from this last characteristic, which could be defined as “Suchéla”.
The collection is hosted in the rooms of Palazzo Bentivoglio and consists of 50 works of considerable artistic value that the famous tailor Umberto Tirelli has donated to the City of Gualtieri.
Among these stand out Balthus drawings, paintings by Fabrizio Clerici, Renato Guttuso, Mino Maccari, Giorgio de Chirico, Giacomo Manzù. Also on show are two costumes designed by Pier Luigi Pizzi and Piero Tosi for the Enrico IV of Pirandello and for the Ludwig by Luchino Visconti.
The tomb of Augusto Daolio - singer of the band Nomadi - who passed away after a brief illness in October 1992, lies in the Municipal Cemetery.
The fresh, sweet and thirst-quenching Anguria Reggiana Igp is one of the most appreciated fruits in the Reggio Emilia plain in summer, so as to obtain the Protected Geographical Indication label due to its unique qualities.
