Discover
Eight municipalities, a land to be discovered, even by bicycle, moving through places rich in history, traditions, and pristine landscapes. A small part of Pianura Padana on the river Po banks. A small part of Pianura that you will love.
Eight municipalities, a land to be discovered, even by bicycle, moving through places rich in history, traditions, and pristine landscapes. A small part of Pianura Padana on the river Po banks. A small part of Pianura that you will love.
In the Po floodplain, there are places known only to those fishermen and boatmen who explore the river bends. One of these places is the “Porto Vecchio” (old port), where nowadays it is possible to find the wreck of a tugboat and two small boats (bettoline), later bombed by an allied plane in spring 1944.
Constructed in 1769, it was designed at the end of the 16th century – during the Bentivoglio reclamation works - to replace the wooden bridge over the Crostolo stream.
“Forestavventura” in Luzzara is an amazing adrenaline park located on secular trees in the Po natural area. Inside the park, you will find acrobatic routes for all ages! Forestavventura is equipped with a kiosk bar and a leisure area with tables - in the shade of majestic secular oaks.
The “Museo della Civiltà Contadina” is part of a larger project, promoted by the Municipal Administration. Thanks to the enthusiasm and expertise of some volunteers (Association “Brugneto C’è”) and to the generosity of many donors, the Museum has rapidly begun to take shape - in an area of the “Braccianti di Brugneto” Civic Centre. The museum consists of equipment and a variety of tools used by farmers in the previous centuries.
This territory is characterized by canals, ditches, basins and cultivated fields - an ideal place for group walks or solo bike rides.
Already planned in Cornelio Bentivoglio's projects, as a noble chapel, the initial church was octagonal in plan.
The facade was designed by Giovan Battista Aleotti in 1599 and built in 1600.
The gualtieri flood plain offers significant opportunities from the naturalistic point of view in the different seasons of the year. The territory enclosed between the master's embankment and the Po riverbed is very complex and diversified, including both naturalistic and anthropological aspects.
The white poplar, a distinctive element of the landscape of the territory close to the river Po, brings us back to the myth of Fetonte who dragged in his crazy flight on the cart of his father Elios fell into the river Po. His desperate sisters were transformed by gods pity in and into lithe white poplars and their tears in the precious amber.
At the end of Corso Cavour stands the Sanctuary of the Blessed Virgin of the Fossetta, built in 1654. Built according to a design by the architect Gian Battista Negri, it has a Greek cross with a central dome, a small dome and three altars.
In the past, the entire northern portion of Novellara country was occupied by extensive marshes and riverbeds. The great reclamation works have progressively dried up the marshes but still today the landscape shows that ancient dominion of the waters.
Piazza Unità d'Italia is the heart of the town, dotted with historic shops and the scene of parties and markets. It is a large rectangular area, enclosed by Renaissance porches and the imposing Collegiate Church - on the west side.
The birth of Poviglio is linked to a Roman legend according to which the founders were two PUPILII, two orphans, represented in the municipal coat of arms by two putti, hence the name of the city.
On the ground floor on the western side of the Gonzaga Castle in Novellara, in the second half of the 16th century, a court theatre was designed and richly decorated by Lelio Orsi on the occasion of the wedding of Alfonso I Gonzaga with Vittoria from Capua.
At the end of the portico (porch) in “Via Cavour”, near the square, there is a religious building dedicated to the Holy Virgin Mary - called “Chiesa della B.V. del Popolo” - whose first symbolic stone was placed by Count Camillo III Gonzaga, on November 11, 1704.
The “pieve” (Parish) of Novellara was probably established in the 5th century.
Also known as the church of the former hospital or church of the “Conventino”. It was built at the end of the 15th century by the will of Caterina Pico - Marquis of Luzzara Rodolfo Gonzaga’s wife. It was nearly destroyed to the foundations and reconstructed between 1764 and 1771. Fortunately, the 15th-century apse has been left intact. The sacristy hosts the remains of a funerary monument - dedicated to Luigi Gonzaga, who died in 1570 - partially destroyed by a fire in 1918. In the upper part of the monument, in the very centre, it is possible to admire the Gonzaga coat of arms - borne up by two putti and dominated by a two-headed crowned eagle. The monument stands on an architrave borne by two large statues: a Caryatid and an Atlas. From the centre, under the ledge and borne by a lion’s head, a fruit festoon passes over the Caryatids and descends towards the outer sides, up to the large corbel of the base, where two eagles are placed. The monument also housed a plaque dedicated to Luigi Gonzaga. Frescoes of historical and artistic interest have been recently discovered under the adjacent porch.
The river Po flows 1 km from the city and can be easily reached from the tree-lined avenue that gently enters the wide "Guastallese flood plain". In addition to housing restaurants, sports and entertainment facilities on its shore, the Guastalla bank of the river also offers trekking and horse-riding routes, completely immersed in an exuberant nature thanks to the important system of cycle-pedestrian tracks.
In the village of Santa Vittoria - in Gualtieri - stands a large building constructed between 1770 and 1775 by the family of the noble Greppi from Milano - who had received a large agricultural estate in the area from the Estensi Counts. The palace is placed in the very centre of the village: its location and volume have affected the entire configuration of Santa Vittoria, preventing the construction of a square
On June 2001, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the first film, two bronze statues created by Andrea Zangani were placed in Piazza Matteotti: the one depicting Don Camillo close to the church, the one representing Peppone in front of the town hall.
Palazzo Bentivoglio was built on the structure of an ancient castle. The complex consisted of a large quadrangular structure surrounded by deep moats at the four corners and included towers. The entire complex enclosed a large courtyard.
The Golena is a site of important naturalistic value consisting of a stretch of about 10 km of the right floodplain of the Po River, close to the border with Lombardy.
Thanks to the efforts and enthusiasm of a group of volunteers in the country, led by Erminio Bertoli, on April 16th, 1989, the Peppone and Don Camillo Museum was inaugurated. An interesting space where you can immerse yourself in the past, letting yourself be guided by movie posters, deepen news, learn anecdotes and admire unique images and original memorabilia, primarily the sidecar bike. In addition, at the museum, there is an assorted bookshop.