Squares, noble palaces, ancient fortresses, and suggestive churches characterize this land to be explored. From the first pre-Roman settlements to the suggestive fortresses symbolizing the Gonzaga’s power and the unforgettable “Peppone e Don Camillo” settings – created by Giovannino Guareschi – each place hides an age-old history. Let’s discover it together!
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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 “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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Inaugurated in 2007, the Archeological Museum collects a series of artifacts found in Brescello between the 18th and the 19th century.
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).
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 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 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.
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.
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.
The “pieve” (Parish) of Novellara was probably established in the 5th century.
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.
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.
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”).
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 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.
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.
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.
Palazzo Ducale is Guastalla’s most representative monument.
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.
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
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.
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.
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).
The Hall hosts some Art Nouveau frescoes by M. Nizzoli.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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).
