Rocca Sanvitale di Fontanellato

The Fortress of Sanvitale presents itself with a particular charm and elegance that makes it unmistakable in the varied landscape dotted with castles of the Parma area, with the same aristocratic grandeur that derives from being a military defense in the stormy times of the Middle Ages.

The outer wall was built probably after 1386 and completed on a quadrangular plan in the first half of the 15th century. Although restored the fifteenth-century staircase leading to the upper loggia is original, as is the porch that on the ground floor extends to the south-east side.

Even if the court recalls military fortifications in its features, it is softened by the elegant use of terracotta, by the refinement of the double loggia and by a certain noble grace of style.

The Rocca di Fontanellato thus unites the strength and compactness of the military constructions with the grace of that age in which the flourishing of humanism made discover the pleasures of life and aesthetics.

The jewel of the whole complex is undoubtedly the "Saletta di Diana e Atteone" frescoed in 1524 by Parmigianino, master of Italian art and fundamental exponent of the mannerist current: 14 medallions, with a frame in lacquered wood and bordered with gold, represent the story of Diana and Actaeon inspired by Ovid's Metamorphoses, while above them a pictorial arbor reveals the sky.

In other rooms there is an exhibition of memorabilia and weapons belonging to the Sanvitale family, the "billiard room" with ceiling and floor of the late '400, the "bridal chamber" with its rich seventeenth-century furniture, the "reception room" with paintings and pictorial friezes from the seventeenth century and an optical chamber that, through an ingenious system of mirrors, reflects the image of the square in front of it on a screen; outside, the hanging garden can also be visited.