Rocca Sanvitale

The Rocca Sanvitale, or Sanvitale Castle, is a fortress residence in the centre of the town of

Fontanellato Fontanellato (Parmigiano: ) is a small town in the province of Parma, in northern Italy. It lies on the plains of the River Po near the A1 autostrada, about west of Parma towards Piacenza. The town was built up in the 15th century around the ...

, near

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

, 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 re ...

. Construction of the

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that is dug and surrounds a castle, fortification, building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive ...

ed block, accessible through a drawbridge, was begun in the 13th century, mostly completed by the 15th century, with embellishments continuing through to the 18th century. It is prototypical of the urban castle-houses of the turbulent

medieval commune Medieval communes in the European Middle Ages had sworn allegiances of mutual defense (both physical defense and of traditional freedoms) among the citizens of a town or city. These took many forms and varied widely in organization and makeup. C ...

s of Northern Italy. Until the 1930s it was the home of the descendants of the Count of Sanvitale. left, Parmigianino Fresco The crenelated walls and asymmetric towers are surrounded by an arcaded town. Adjacent to the castle are gardens and a courtyard. The optical chamber (''camera ottica'') has an optical system that projects to an inside wall a view of the town through mirrors and a prism. Rocca Sanvitale is now partly a museum and partly offices and conference hall for the town administration. Inside are the frescoes of ''Diane and Acteon'' painted in 1523–24 by

Parmigianino Girolamo Francesco Maria Mazzola (11 January 150324 August 1540), also known as Francesco Mazzola or, more commonly, as Parmigianino (, , ; "the little one from Parma"), was an Italian Mannerist painter and printmaker active in Florence, Rome, Bo ...

for the Count

Galeazzo Sanvitale Galeazzo Sanvitale (died 8 September 1622) was a Roman Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of Bari-Canosa (1604–1606). ''(in Latin)''Sanvitale Buildings and structures in the Province of Parma Gothic architecture in Emilia-Romagna Museums in Emilia-Romagna {{italy-museum-stub