The Rocca dei Sanvitale Castle is the representative image of the city of Noceto and since December 23rd 2005 it has become the "Castle of Music", combining art, history and culture. Within the walls of the complex are housed the Museum of Ancient Discus, the Viennese Parmense collection and the International School of Violin Making by the master Scrollavezza.
Castello di Noceto History
The first historical evidence of the presence of a fortress in Noceto is from 1226, the year in which the occupation of a fort is documented by the Parmigiani Guelphs. Many of the gaps in the history of this castle have only been reduced by 1345, when Giberto I of the Sanvitale family became its lord. At that time the whole area was at the mercy of numerous fights between families and the castle was one of the unfortunate victims: razed by the Visconti was then rebuilt and destroyed several times, becoming a sort of symbol of disputes. The troubled history of the manor saw a glimmer of light in the mid-1400s, when Pier Maria de 'Rossi gave it its current appearance.
For centuries the Counts Sanvitale, lords of Noceto until 1805, used it as the administrative hub of the region. Inside they found the prisons, the court, the residence of the podestà and the militia departments.
The Castle looks like a square with four rounded corner towers with to the left of the central core another building that is divided up between floors, over the basement. The ground floor of the Rocca is accessible from the lush park of centuries-old plants, among which the majestic chestnut tree stands out, which during the Christmas season lights up with colored lights. Also from the park you can access the premises of the Gildo Mellini hall, home of the Podio Association, which for years has offered a vast platform of musical courses and the Bambolbi orchestra, a group made up of young musicians.
The upper floor, called "mezzanino", houses the headquarters of the cultural association "I Cantori del Mattino", while still going up we arrive at the so-called "noble floor" of the fortress, which is certainly more representative. Here, in fact, there are two museums: the Museum of the Disc and the Museum of Violin Making.
The Museo del Disco hosts the valuable discographic heritage deriving from the legacy of Bruno Slawitz consisting of a collection of 33 and 78 rpm vinyl records with a predominantly concert theme and melodrama and a path composed of various computer and listening stations accompanies the visitor through the vast collection.
In the Museum of Violin Making is instead exposed the vast collection of stringed instruments and pinch built by the master Renato Scrollavezza, in addition to those made by Liuteria Parmense.
Going on we reach the Rossellini Hall, transformed into a space equipped for film projections, among which the one realized by the Administration for didactic purposes on the phases of arc working, which also contains a descriptive description of the Castle. From this floor, going up the internal stairs, you get to the rooms of the tower that host the International School of Violin Making Renato Scrollavezza, founded in 1975 at the Arrigo Boito Conservatory and now one of the most important training in the field of violin making.