SURROUNDINGS OF SALSOMAGGIORE AND TABIANO TERME

SALSOMAGGIORE TERME (4 Km) : owes its success to its natural resource: water. The exploitation of water to extract salt has ancient origins; the use of thermal water for therapeutic purposes is more recent, but at the beginning of last century its value was recognized all over Europe. In the twenties Salsomaggiore assumed the structure of a typical spa, with wide avenues, parks, big thermal buildings (Berzieri Thermae, 1923) and hotels, in the bright look of the liberty-style. The flowered gardens, the green, the fashionable manifestations, as well as cinemas, cafès, sport grounds, thermal swimming pools, dancings, elegant shops, offer the guest a really ideal stay for a quite holiday. In the vicinity of Salsomaggiore : the church and the old salt-works of Salsominore, testimony of the old salt factories, a real industry in the XVI century. The Stirone Park and the church of San Nicomede: this zone has a scientific importance for the fossils of the tertiary and quaternary era, when the sea covered this area. The church was built in the IX century. The castles of Tabiano, Scipione and Bargone ( not opened to the public): built by the XI century, they underwent all the struggles between guelphes and ghibellines. For more information: http://turismo.comune.salsomaggiore-terme.pr.it


FIDENZA (9 Km) founded by the Romans, has a splendid Romanesque cathedral with sculptures of Benedetto Antelami.

PARMA (30 Km) Ancient Roman colony, became in the XVI century capital of the Duchy. Refined city of culture, it already had an University in the XII century becoming the most important centre for the works of artists such as Antelami, Correggio and Parmigianino. The Cathedral one of the highest expression of Romanesque architecture; the Baptistery, the large octagon in pink Verona marble, represents one of the most exceptional examples of the transition between Romanesque and Gothic art in Italy, with delightful sculpted decorations by Benedetto Antelami; Teatro Farnese, situated within the Pilotta Palace, is a magnificent example of the great theatrical tradition of the XVII Century, influenced by Palladium; the Pilotta Palace immense uncompleted building complex, built in order to house the service facilities of the Farnese court, houses the prestigious library "Biblioteca Palatina", the Galleria Nazionale the Museo Archeologico and the Museo Bodoniano; the Teatro Regio, a temple to the opera of Verdi, famous for its enthusiastic and demanding following, is a neoclassical building designed by Nicola Bettoli, inaugurated in 1829; Parco Ducale, vast green area, is a rare surviving example of royal park, created in 1561 by the Farnese family; 13 Km from town, the Fondazione Magnani Rocca contains a private collections of about a hundred paintings, including Carpaccio, Tiziano, Rubens, Filippo Lippi, Goya, and the modern works by Guttuso, Carrà, Manzu, De Chirico and Morandi.

COLORNO (47 Km) : summer residence of the Duchy of Parma , was called "Little Versailles"; of remarkable interest is the Ducal Palace with its Park and the Churc of San Liborio.

SORAGNA (19 Km) : is a fortress wich was founded in the IX Century, for a long time feudal domain of the Meli Lupi family, made Princes of the Holy Roman Empire in 1709, transformed into a wonderful palace with interesting frescoes, paintings and lacquered furniture. To be mentioned the Hebraic Museum and Synagogue.

FONTANELLATO (20 Km) : with its powerful and mighty Fortezza Sanvitale, still surrounded by the original waterfilled moat.

LUOGHI VERDIANI (20 Km) : this is the place where the great composer Giuseppe Verdi was born and has lived; his native house is in Roncole, a hamlet of Busseto, were are to be seen the Civic and Verdian Museum in the marvellous Villa Pallavicino and the Giuseppe Verdi Theatre were all the Verdian works have been represented. Not far away, is Villa Verdi at S.Agata, wich Verdi built for himself to make his permanent residence.

SABBIONETA (58 Km) : it is the ancient capital of a small principality of the Gonzaga family, near the border of the Duchy of Mantova, built by Duke Vepasiano Gonzaga in XVI Century, what will be called later "Little Athens", with collations of Greek and Romans statues and bas-relief, the Olimpic Theatre, with decorations of the school of Veronese.

MANTOVA (65 Km) : a city whose origins date from antiquity, known as the "City of the Gonzaga ". It conserves important historical monuments, the famous Ducale Palace, and the Castle of San Giorgio, with the celebrated "Camera degli Sposi" (weddig chamber) painted by Mantegna.


CASTELL'ARQUATO (20 Km) : ancient Roman and medieval centre as a remarkable Romanesque Basilica and the Museum of the Collegiata. There is a permanent exhibition of wrought iron and local handicrafts.

PIACENZA (40 Km) : offers to the visitors the remarkable Piazza Cavalli (square of the horses) with its gothic Palazzo Comunale and two imposing equestrian monuments of the Farnesian period.

CREMONA (60 Km) : situated on the river Po, preserves important monuments of the municipal and Renaissance periods: the Cathedral, il Torrazzo (the tower), the Baptistry. Special to Cremona is the musical tradition, expressed for centuries by its composers and from the famous violin-making school, funded by unsurpassed masters such as Niccolò Amati, Guarneri del Gesù and Antonio Stradivari, whose five masterpieces are conserved in the Palazzo Comunale.