Castello di Compiano is a castle at the top of

Compiano Compiano ( Parmigiano: ) is a medieval walled town in the Taro Valley (Parmesan Apennines), a 50 minute-drive to the Ligurian Sea and to Parma. The top of Compiano's hill is home to the medieval Castello di Compiano. History It was said the G ...

's hill, in the province of Parma, northern

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

History

It is believed to have been built in the early Middle Ages by the

Lombards The Lombards () or Langobards ( la, Langobardi) were a Germanic people who ruled most of the Italian Peninsula from 568 to 774. The medieval Lombard historian Paul the Deacon wrote in the '' History of the Lombards'' (written between 787 an ...

, on the road which links the neighbouring

Emilia Emilia may refer to: People * Emilia (given name), list of people with this name Places * Emilia (region), a historical region of Italy. Reggio, Emilia * Emilia-Romagna, an administrative region in Italy, including the historical regions of Emi ...

and

Liguria it, Ligure , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

. It first belonged to the Malaspina family, then to the Commune of

Piacenza Piacenza (; egl, label= Piacentino, Piaṡëinsa ; ) is a city and in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy, and the capital of the eponymous province. As of 2022, Piacenza is the ninth largest city in the region by population, with over ...

and, finally, to the Landi family which ruled the area for 425 consecutive years, eventually forming a small independent principality, the Landi State. Between the 16th and the 17th centuries, Compiano was in its prime, and minted its own currency, opened state schools and started a pawn system. In the 18th century Compiano passed from the Farnese to the Borbone family, and was then annexed to the realm of Maria Luigia of Austria, then Duchess of Parma, who used the castle as a State prison for

Carbonari The Carbonari () was an informal network of secret revolutionary societies active in Italy from about 1800 to 1831. The Italian Carbonari may have further influenced other revolutionary groups in France, Portugal, Spain, Brazil, Uruguay and Ru ...

captives in 1821. Before World War II it was used as a girls' orphanage. After the war ended, the school was closed down and the castle was bought by Marchioness Lina Raimondi Gambarotta who, after her death in 1987, left it to the Compiano municipality. Built on a rocky spur which dominates the river

Taro Taro () (''Colocasia esculenta)'' is a root vegetable. It is the most widely cultivated species of several plants in the family Araceae that are used as vegetables for their corms, leaves, and petioles. Taro corms are a food staple in Afri ...

, the castle is similar to a projection from the surrounding fortified walls.Storia del Castello di Compiano

Compiano Masonic Museum

Since July 2002, the castle hosts the International Masonic Museum Orizzonti Massonici, the only museum of this kind in Italy. The three rooms dedicated to this museum contain precious relics, such as medallions, paintings, and honours belonging to the British Masonic symbolism used in the 18th and 19th Century; one of the rooms, called room 33, holds various Italian relics and objects displayed by the Italian Masonic association

Grande Oriente d'Italia The Grand Orient of Italy (GOI) ( it, Grande Oriente d'Italia) is an Italian masonic grand lodge founded in 1805; the viceroy Eugene of Beauharnais was instrumental in its establishment. It was based at the Palazzo Giustiniani, Rome, Italy fro ...

- Palazzo Giustiniani.Musei del castello Castello di Compiano – MARCHESA RAIMONDI – MUSEO MASSONICO DI COMPIANO

References

{{Malaspina

Buildings and structures in the Province of Parma Lombard architecture Museums in Emilia-Romagna Masonic museums Bardi, Emilia-Romagna