HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Castell'Arquato (; Piacentino: or ) is an Italian town located on the first hills of Val D’Arda in the
province of Piacenza The province of Piacenza () is a province in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. Its provincial capital is the city Piacenza. As of 2016, it has a total population of 286,572 inhabitants over an area of , giving it a population density of 111.38 ...
, in
Emilia-Romagna Emilia-Romagna (, , both , ; or ; ) is an Regions of Italy, administrative region of northern Italy, comprising the historical regions of Emilia (region), Emilia and Romagna. Its capital is Bologna. It has an area of , and a population of 4.4 m ...
, approximately from
Piacenza Piacenza (; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Piacenza, eponymous province. As of 2022, Piacenza is the ninth largest city in the region by population, with more ...
and from
Parma Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...
. Places nearby include Bacedasco, Vigolo Marchese, Fiorenzuola d'Arda,
Lugagnano Val d'Arda Lugagnano Val d'Arda ( Piacentino: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Piacenza in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna. Geography It's located about northwest of Bologna and about southeast of Piacenza, on the Arda stream. ...
, and Vernasca. It is one of
I Borghi più belli d'Italia () is a non-profit private association of small Italian towns of strong historical and artistic interest, that was founded in March 2001 on the initiative of the Tourism Council of the National Association of Italian Municipalities, with the a ...
("The most beautiful villages of Italy"). A medieval town of traditional structure which has maintained its appearance as it was in the early 10th century, the Old Town of Castell'Arquato is a high rock which in other times was strategically important for dominating the valley, now surrounded by the village. Its picturesque medieval features have led to the burg's appearances in movies such as '' Ladyhawke''. Opera librettist
Luigi Illica Luigi Illica (9 May 1857 – 16 December 1919) was an Italian librettist who wrote for Giacomo Puccini (usually with Giuseppe Giacosa), Pietro Mascagni, Alfredo Catalani, Umberto Giordano, Baron Alberto Franchetti and other important Italian ...
, known for his long collaboration with composer
Giacomo Puccini Giacomo Puccini (22 December 1858 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer known primarily for List of compositions by Giacomo Puccini#Operas, his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he ...
, but also with Alfredo Catalani and
Umberto Giordano Umberto Menotti Maria Giordano (28 August 186712 November 1948) was an Italian composer, mainly of operas. His best-known work in that genre was Andrea Chénier (1896). He was born in Foggia in Apulia, southern Italy, and studied under Paolo Se ...
and author of the libretti of such operas as ''
Tosca ''Tosca'' is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900. The work, based on Victorien Sardou's 1 ...
'', ''
La bohème ''La bohème'' ( , ) is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions '':wikt:quadro, quadri'', ''wikt:tableau, tableaux'' or "images", rather than ''atti'' (acts). composed by Giacomo Puccini between 1893 and 1895 to an Italian libretto b ...
'', ''
Madama Butterfly ''Madama Butterfly'' (; ''Madame Butterfly'') is an opera in three acts (originally two) by Giacomo Puccini, with an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It is based on the short story " Madame Butterfly" (1898) by John Lu ...
'', '' La Wally'' and ''
Andrea Chénier ''Andrea Chénier'' () is a verismo opera in four acts by Umberto Giordano, set to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica, and first performed on 28 March 1896 at La Scala, Milan. The story is based loosely on the life of the French poet An ...
'', was born in the borough in 1857 and is here buried. Castell'Arquato is also in the area of the Colli Piacentini (Piacenza Hills), an important area for wine production. The most important wines produced in the Colli Piacentini are Gutturnio, Bonarda, Ortrugo, Malvasia, and Monterosso Val d'Arda. The recent film Juliet and Romeo was filmed here. https://youtu.be/1SgikfMKAb8?si=wqJVa8HflGQEsCzH  


History

The origins of Castell'Arquato are uncertain. It is believed that it originated as a Roman military settlement (''castrum''). During the Roman Imperial Era it developed into a small rural town, thanks to its position commanding the routes from Piacenza and Parma toward the Ligurian Sea (Liguria is at the end of the Piacenza valley). The first historical news concerning Castell’Arquato (known as ''la Pieve'') appear in the 8th century. Castell'Arquato seems to have been constructed by a "noble and powerful lord named Magnus". Magnus built the squared based castle and a church "In honor Mater Dei" (756–758). At that time Castell’Arquato had a military (''Castrum'') and an agricultural organisation (''Curtis''), the Justice Administration (''Curia'') and the Religious Administration (''Pieve''). Before dying in 789 Magnus gave the town, the church of Santa Maria and its goods to the bishop of Piacenza, and Castell’Arquato acquired an important freedom as a ''
Pieve In Italy in the Middle Ages, a ''pieve'' (, ; ; : ''pievi'') was a rural church with a baptistery, upon which other churches without baptisteries depended. ''Pieve'' is also an Italian and Corsican term signifying the medieval ecclesiastical/a ...
'' (pleban church). The Bishop had the right of direct taxation (''fodro'') throughout the territory of Castell'Arquato on all the men, ''nobiles'', ''burgenses'', lords with houses and lands in the area and on the clerics of Santa Maria. From 1204 to 1207 the Bishop of Piacenza Grimerio chose Castell’Arquato as his home. The hamlet became even more independent from Piacenza. The grant of an autonomous government became official in the summer of 1220. The first document in the historical archive of Castell'Arquato is from 10 August 1220 when the Bishop Vicedomio gave his land in the burg and the territory in Emphyteusis (a form of fiefdom) to the "burg and to the homines" of Castell’Arquato for 700 piacentian lire. For 200 lire and a small annual fee he gives also "in perpetual investiture all jurisdictions, honors and tithes" of Castell’Arquato, Lusurasco, San Lorenzo and Vernasca. Castell’Arquato was at the time ruled by a
podestà (), also potestate or podesta in English, was the name given to the holder of the highest civil office in the government of the cities of central and northern Italy during the Late Middle Ages. Sometimes, it meant the chief magistrate of a c ...
chosen by the commune of Piacenza from among the most renowned members of the Piacenza's families, serving for a term of three years. The podestà had civil, political and judicial functions. The podestà's rule ended in 1290 when Alberto Scotti, backed by the Guelph faction, the merchant class and the artisanal corporations, became lord of Piacenza. Castell’Arquato also became a seigniory on its own right. Alberto Scotti allied himself to the Visconti family and extended his dominion to the territory of Piacenza, while entrusting Castell’Arquato to the ''podestà'' Tedesio de' Spectinis. The alliance with the Visconti ended in 1302 when the son of Matteo Visconti, Galeazzo I Visconti, married
Beatrice d'Este Beatrice d'Este (29 June 1475 – 3 January 1497) a noblewoman from Duchy of Ferrara, Ferrara, duchess of Bari and Milan by her marriage to Ludovico Sforza (known as "Ludovico il Moro"). She was known as a woman of culture, an important patron ...
and shifted the weight of the alliances, starting a period of conflict that brought the Scotti to Milan. Under the Scotti dominion, Castell’Arquato acquired political prestige and many of the buildings that can be still be seen today, like the ''Palazzo del Podestà'' (Podestà's Palace) and the ''Palazzo di Giustizia'' (Court of Justice), nucleus of what is today the ''Palazzo del Duca'' (Ducal Palace). In 1304 Alberto Scotti was banished from Castell’Arquato by the city of Piacenza, but came back three years later. After the arrival of German emperor Henry VII in 1310, Alberto Scotti ruled the village until 1316 when Galeazzo I Visconti besieged Castell’Arquato, which yielded after one year. Galeazzo Visconti allowed the town "special rights": the ability to juridically emancipate itself from
Piacenza Piacenza (; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Piacenza, eponymous province. As of 2022, Piacenza is the ninth largest city in the region by population, with more ...
and to write laws of its own, the basis of the 15th century statutes. In 1324 Castell’Arquato was given to the municipality of Piacenza, itself under the dominion of the Church, which governed the burg for twelve years. Piacenza went back to the Visconti in 1336 with Azzone Visconti, who favored the burg's autonomy from Piacenza, appointing a trusted ''podestà'', Galvagno de' Comini, and facilitating the fortification of this strategically and militarily important area. He died at the age of 37 years. His successor,
Luchino Visconti Luchino Visconti di Modrone, Count of Lonate Pozzolo (; 2 November 1906 – 17 March 1976) was an Italian filmmaker, theatre and opera director, and screenwriter. He was one of the fathers of Italian neorealism, cinematic neorealism, but later ...
was responsible for the construction of the Rocca (starting in 1342), promoted by the municipality of Piacenza. In 1403
Gian Galeazzo Visconti Gian Galeazzo Visconti (16 October 1351 – 3 September 1402), was the first duke of Duchy of Milan, Milan (1395) and ruled that late-medieval city just before the dawn of the Renaissance. He also ruled Lombardy jointly with his uncle Bernabò V ...
gave Borromeo de’ Borromei and his descendants feudal powers over Castell’Arquato, with the related fiscal revenues. Threatened by the powerful family of the Arcilli from Firenzuola, they gave back their rights to the people of Arquato, who gave them to
Filippo Maria Visconti Filippo Maria Visconti (3 September 1392 – 13 August 1447) was the duke of Duchy of Milan, Milan from 1412 to 1447. Reports stated that he was "paranoid", but "shrewd as a ruler." He went to war in the 1420s with Romagna, Republic of Florenc ...
,
Duke of Milan Milan was ruled by dukes from the 13th century to 1814, after which it was incorporated into the Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia by the Congress of Vienna. List of dukes of Milan House of Visconti In 1395, Gian Galeazzo Visconti was titled Duke ...
. From 1416 to 1470 the town was called Castel Visconti. In 1438 Filippo Maria Visconti offered the fief to the
condottiero Condottieri (; singular: ''condottiero'' or ''condottiere'') were Italian military leaders active during the Middle Ages and the early modern period. The term originally referred specifically to commanders of mercenary companies, derived from the ...
Niccolò Piccinino Niccolò Piccinino (1386 – 15 October 1444) was an Italian condottiero. He began his career in the mercenary company of Braccio da Montone, reaching the rank of commander of the company after Braccios death in 1424. He spent most of his career ...
, under whose government the Municipal Statutes were promulgated, the ''Statuta et Decreta Terrae Castri Arquati''. After his death the village went to his sons
Francesco Francesco, the Italian language, Italian (and original) version of the personal name "Francis (given name), Francis", is one of the List of most popular given names, most common given name among males in Italy. Notable persons with that name inclu ...
and Jacopo. After Filippo Maria Visconti's death, his son-in-law
Francesco I Sforza Francesco I Sforza (; 23 July 1401 – 8 March 1466) was an Italian condottiero who founded the Sforza dynasty in the duchy of Milan, ruling as its (fourth) Duke of Milan, duke from 1450 until his death. In the 1420s, he participated in the ...
was in 1447 also declared lord of
Piacenza Piacenza (; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Piacenza, eponymous province. As of 2022, Piacenza is the ninth largest city in the region by population, with more ...
and its area. In 1541
Pope Paul III Pope Paul III (; ; born Alessandro Farnese; 29 February 1468 – 10 November 1549) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 October 1534 to his death, in November 1549. He came to the papal throne in an era follo ...
declared the independence of the village, having already initiated the process in 1538. He also visited the Castell'Arquato in the spring of 1543 when he was acclaimed by the population, grateful for the independence from Piacenza also meant economical relief. The rule by the
Sforza The House of Sforza () was a ruling family of Renaissance Italy, based in Milan. Sforza rule began with the family's acquisition of the Duchy of Milan following the extinction of the Visconti of Milan, Visconti family in the mid-15th century and ...
s went on until 1707, when the territory of Castell'Arquato became part of the
Duchy of Parma and Piacenza The Duchy of Parma and Piacenza (, ) was an Italian state created in 1545 and located in northern Italy, in the current region of Emilia-Romagna. Originally a realm of the Farnese family after Pope Paul III made it a hereditary duchy for his so ...
under the Farnese and later the
House of Bourbon The House of Bourbon (, also ; ) is a dynasty that originated in the Kingdom of France as a branch of the Capetian dynasty, the royal House of France. Bourbon kings first ruled France and Kingdom of Navarre, Navarre in the 16th century. A br ...
, until its annexation to Italy in 1860. The current coat of arms reflects these changes, featuring the castle alongside the symbols of Piacenza (red
castra ''Castra'' () is a Latin language, Latin term used during the Roman Republic and Roman Empire for a military 'camp', and ''castrum'' () for a 'Fortification, fort'. Either could refer to a building or plot of land, used as a fortified milita ...
of Sant'Antonino), the Farnese (golden fleur de lis); the Scotti (6-pointed gold stars) and the Sforza (golden lions).


Main sights

* ''Rocca Viscontea'' (Visconti castle). Founded over pre-existing edifice, it was the seat of the Visconti garrison and has a quadrangular plan with four square towers at the vertexes, a ''mastio'' (
keep A keep is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in castles that were fortified residen ...
) and a ditch with two entrances. The ''Rocca'' is today home to the Medieval Museum * ''Collegiata '' church of St Mary, dating to the late 8th century, when it was a baptismal ''pieve''. It was however, completely rebuilt after an earthquake in 1117. Notable is the Romanesque "Paradise Portico" on the left side, dating to the late 14th century, the four apses and the late 13th century cloister. The interior has sculpted capitals and sculptures from the 12th century, and frescoes. *''Palazzo del Podestà'' *''Torrione Farnese'' (Farnese Tower) *''Porta di Sasso'' (Sasso Gate) *Baptistery of ''San Giovanni'', at Vigolo Marchese *S. Spirito Hospital (now housing a museum) *''Palazzo del Duca'' (Ducal Palace), built in 1292 by Alberto Scoto. It is connected to the Torrione by a tunnel. *Church of ''San Giacomo'' *''Vernasca Silver Flag'' (Annual vintage motorsport event). Scheduled for 16–18 June 2017 and organized by Club Piacentino Automotoveicoli d'Epoca.


Culture

The castle's archive houses a collection of ancient music (from c. 16th century). It was partly published by the
American Institute of Musicology The American Institute of Musicology (AIM) is a musicological organization that researches, promotes and produces publications on early music. Founded in 1944 by Armen Carapetyan, the AIM's chief objective is the publication of modern editio ...
. In those time it means for harpsichord or organ. The edition is called CEKM (Corpus of Early Keyboard music). From this collection a keyboard dance of the renaissance called "Al Milanese" with regal sound:


References


External links


www.castellarquato.com

www.comune.castellarquato.pc.it
{{DEFAULTSORT:Castell'arquato Hilltowns in Emilia-Romagna Cities and towns in Emilia-Romagna Borghi più belli d'Italia