The Val di Taro is the valley of the

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 Africa ...

river, a tributary of the Po. The valley lies almost entirely in the

Province of Parma The Province of Parma ( it, Provincia di Parma) is a province in the Emilia–Romagna region of Italy. Its largest town and capital is the city of Parma. It is made up of 47 ''comuni''. It has an area of and a total population of around 450,000 ...

, in the

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 ...

region of Italy.

Geography

The Val di Taro is approximately 126 km long, and runs from south-west to north-east. The source of the Taro is on

Monte Penna Monte Penna is a mountain (1,735 m) on the border between Liguria and Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, part of the Ligurian Apennines. It is included in the Natural Regional Park of the Aveto, and overlooks the Val di Taro; the sources of bot ...

, on the border between Emilia-Romagna and

Liguria Liguria (; lij, Ligûria ; french: Ligurie) is a Regions of Italy, region of north-western Italy; its Capital city, capital is Genoa. Its territory is crossed by the Alps and the Apennine Mountains, Apennines Mountain chain, mountain range and is ...

. It runs into the Po at Gramignazzo, a

frazione A ''frazione'' (plural: ) is a type of subdivision of a ''comune'' (municipality) in Italy, often a small village or hamlet outside the main town. Most ''frazioni'' were created during the Fascist era (1922–1943) as a way to consolidate territ ...

of the

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 also ...

Sissa The International School for Advanced Studies (Italian: ''Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati''; SISSA) is an international, state-supported, post-graduate-education and research institute in Trieste, Italy. SISSA is active in th ...

. The valley lies between the Val Baganza to the east, the valley of the

Vara Vara or VARA may refer to: Geography *Vara (river), in Liguria, Italy *Vara Parish, former municipality in Tartu County, Estonia * Vara, Estonia, village in Peipsiääre Parish, Tartu County, Estonia *Vara Municipality, municipality in western Swe ...

and the Valle di Magra to the south and the Valle del Ceno to the west. The

Parco fluviale Regionale del Taro Parco can refer to: * Parco, Tibet, a town in China * Parco (retailer), a chain of department stores primarily in Japan * Parco Historic District (also known as Sinclair Historic District), Sinclair, Wyoming, United States * Parco P.I., a reality ...

, or regional park of the Taro river, lies within it, and extends approximately from Fornovo di Taro to

Ponte Taro Ponte, a word meaning ''bridge'' in Italian, Portuguese, and Galician languages, may refer to: Places England *Pontefract, a town in the Metropolitan City of Wakefield France *Ponte Leccia, a civil parish (hameau) in the department of Haute-Cor ...

History

The Val di Taro is traversed by the

Via Francigena The Via Francigena () is an ancient road and pilgrimage route running from the cathedral city of Canterbury in England, through France and Switzerland, to Rome and then to Apulia, Italy, where there were ports of embarkation for the Holy Land. It w ...

, the ancient road and pilgrim route from

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, which follows the valley from

Noceto Noceto (Parmigiano: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the province of Parma in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna, located about northwest of Bologna and about west of Parma. The municipality of Noceto contains the ''frazioni'' (subdivisions, ...

to the Passo della Cisa. From mediaeval times most of the Val di Taro was held by the Landi family, princes of Val di Taro. Their castle stands at

Compiano Compiano (Parmigiano dialect, Parmigiano: ) is a medieval walled town in the Taro River, Taro Valley (Province of Parma, Parmesan Apennines), a 50 minute-drive to the Ligurian Sea and to Parma. The top of Compiano's hill is home to the medieval C ...

. In the late 16th century their lands passed into the hands of

Ottavio Farnese Ottavio Farnese (9 October 1524 – 18 September 1586) reigned as Duke of Parma and Piacenza from 1547 until his death and Duke of Castro from 1545 to 1547 and from 1553 until his death. Biography Born in Valentano, Ottavio was the second ...

following a failed conspiracy against the Farnese family in 1582, some thirty years before the more famous

Sanvitale conspiracy The Sanvitale conspiracy ( it, congiura dei Sanvitale) was a plot to assassinate Ranuccio I Farnese, Duke of Parma and Piacenza, and members of his family at the baptism of his new-born son Alessandro in 1611. The conspiracy may also be referred ...

. Claudio Landi, Prince of Val di Taro, plotted with Giambattista Anguissola and Giammaria and Cammillo Scotti to assassinate Farnese, but the plot was discovered; Landi lost the Val di Taro, and the other conspirators lost their heads.

References

{{reflist, refs= .n.(1863
''Barbara Sanvitale e la congiura del 1611 contro i Farnesi; Cenni storici'', di Federico Odorici, con documenti. Volumetto di pag. 84, in 8.°
(book review, in Italian). ''Archivio Storico Italiano'', Firenze: G.P. Vieusseux. Nuova serie 17 (1): 100–106. Accessed May 2013. L'Area Protetta
(in Italian). Parco fluviale Regionale del Taro, 2 June 2010. "The protected area". Accessed June 2013. Valleys of Emilia-Romagna