Guastalla ( Guastallese: ) is a town and ''

comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces ('' province''). The can ...

'' in the province of Reggio Emilia in

Emilia-Romagna egl, Emigliàn (man) egl, Emiglièna (woman) rgn, Rumagnòl (man) rgn, Rumagnòla (woman) it, Emiliano (man) it, Emiliana (woman) or it, Romagnolo (man) it, Romagnola (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title ...

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 ...

Geography

Guastalla is situated in the

Po Valley The Po Valley, Po Plain, Plain of the Po, or Padan Plain ( it, Pianura Padana , or ''Val Padana'') is a major geographical feature of Northern Italy. It extends approximately in an east-west direction, with an area of including its Venetic e ...

, and lies on the banks of the

Po River The Po ( , ; la, Padus or ; Ancient Ligurian: or ) is the longest river in Italy. It flows eastward across northern Italy starting from the Cottian Alps. The river's length is either or , if the Maira, a right bank tributary, is included. Th ...

. Guastalla is located at around from the cities of Reggio Emilia,

Parma Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, music, art, prosciutto (ham), cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 inhabitants, Parma is the second mos ...

, and

Mantua Mantua ( ; it, Mantova ; Lombard language, Lombard and la, Mantua) is a city and ''comune'' in Lombardy, Italy, and capital of the Province of Mantua, province of the same name. In 2016, Mantua was designated as the Italian Capital of Culture ...

History

The area of Guastalla was probably settled by Etruscans as early as the 7th century BCE, but the name of the city is mentioned for the first time in 864 CE. Of Lombard origin, the city was ruled by the Torelli family from 1406 to 1539, when it became the capital of a duchy under the

Gonzaga Gonzaga may refer to: Places * Gonzaga, Lombardy, commune in the province of Mantua, Italy * Gonzaga, Cagayan, municipality in the Philippines *Gonzaga, Minas Gerais, town in Brazil *Forte Gonzaga, fort in Messina, Sicily People with the surna ...

family and housed artists like Guercino and

Torquato Tasso Torquato Tasso ( , also , ; 11 March 154425 April 1595) was an Italian poet of the 16th century, known for his 1591 poem ''Gerusalemme liberata'' ( Jerusalem Delivered), in which he depicts a highly imaginative version of the combats between ...

. In 1748, by the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, the city became part of the Duchy of Parma, Piacenza e Guastalla, to which it belonged until 1847, when it was inherited by the Duke of Modena. Since the unification of Italy in 1861 Guastalla has been a part of Italy.

Industry

SMEG (from Smalterie Metallurgiche Emiliane Guastalla), a major manufacturer of high-end domestic appliances, was founded by Vittorio Bertazzoni in Guastalla in 1948, where it still has its headquarters.

Main sights

Guastalla town: *The Cathedral (16th century) by Francesco da Volterra. *The Ducal Palace of Guastalla (1567). *The Civic Theatre Ruggero Ruggeri (1671). *The Town Hall. *The octagonal Oratory of ''Madonna della Concezione''. *The church of ''Santa Maria dei Servi'', designed by Francesco da Volterra. Noteworthy in the interior is a ''Deposition'', canvas by Giuseppe Maria Crespi. *The Civic Tower (18th century), in the location where once was the Spanish Castle Around Guastalla: *The Romanesque Oratory of St. George (probably from the 9th century). *The Basilica of St. Peter at Pieve di Guastalla, which was seat of two Roman Catholic councils. It houses an ancient baptismal font (9th century) and painted

terracotta Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based unglazed or glazed ceramic where the fired body is porous. In applied art, craft, construction, and architecture, terracotta i ...

portraying the ''Madonna with Child'', attributed to Guido Mazzoni.

Twin Towns

* Forcalquier, France * Giovinazzo, Italy * Gabicce Mare, Italy

Residents

* In-Grid, Italian pop-dance artist

References

Cities and towns in Emilia-Romagna Populated places established in the 7th century BC {{EmiliaRomagna-geo-stub