Exploring Castles

9.20 am meeting by the Eni gas station in Viale Masini 1/3.
9.30 am departure.

11.30 am Sarzano Castle, a fortification built in the heart of the natural landscape where the Mountain Parmigiano Reggiano is still made today, in the Tuscan-Emilian Apennine Reserve. To the east you can see the sharp and distant peak of Monte Cimone. To the south, in front of the bottom of the ridge, you can see the Pietra di Bismantova and, further to the right, the Ventasso cone. The current structure, with double walls, courtyard and square tower, dates back to the 15th century, to the time of Marquis Nicolò III d'Este.

12.40 pm Lunch at the Borgo Biancomatilde restaurant, near the Sarzano Castle (menu attached).

2.40 pm Visit to the Pieve San Bartolomeo, a precious example of Romanesque architecture, mentioned for the first time by Emperor Otto II on 14 October 980.

4.00 pm Guided tour of the Bianello Castle, still fully furnished. Reachable with an Protected content walk, it is the subject of study by the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Ferrara. Matilde of Canossa hosted the emperors Henry IV and Henry V there. The rooms of greatest artistic value are from the seventeenth century, distributed in seven rooms frescoed by great artists, as reported by Carlo Cesare Malvasia in “La Felsina pittrice. Vite de pittori bolognesi” in Protected content .