Torrechiara

In the spring, nearby hills and woods are in bloom and make the view from the Castle out over all the valley unforgettable.

The Torrechiara Castle is an important example of 15th century architecture and even if it is on a hill, it presents the typical regular design of a plains castle: the original structure has remained intact since the castle was not only conceived as a fortification but also as a residence for accommodating a noble court.

The compromise between its military function and its residential function kept it from undergoing the structural changes and additions common to many buildings built as fortresses and subsequently modified to be made into noble residences at the end of feudal fighting. The castle has three rings of walls and four angular towers.

On the banks of the Parma River, the Benedictine abbey Santa Maria della Neve was founded by Pier Maria Rossi for his son Ugolino, incorporating a preexisting Romanesque church, altered and decorated with a terracotta cornice of late Gothic taste and a rose window in an eccentric position on the hut-shaped façade.

Both the sacristy and the bell tower are of the 17th century and the interior has a single nave with only two chapels. In the refectory, restorations have uncovered 18th century medallions with realistic landscapes and fantastic architecture and in the antique capitulary room there are lunettes with biblical scenes. The lovely belvedere is also of the 18th century, with a fine railing in a wrought iron and frescoes.