Top 20 Castles around Pianello Val Tidone

The Castle was first mentioned in a document from 1001. On this occasion, Bishop Sigifredo granted the Benedictine monks of San Savino (Piacenza) some land, including the area of the Castle. The building has a trapezoidal plan and has four circular towers. The first of the four towers dates back to around the year 1000, which only later became four. The Castle was often the scene of clashes and battles. In 1212, the Guelphs of Piacenza took refuge there, threatened by the Ghibellines of Visconti, but they were worsted because they were defeated later in two battles. In the fourteenth century, the Castle was inhabited by Gabriello Boccapiccina, then it passed to the Chiapponi family. When the Chiapponi family died out, in the eighteenth century they were replaced by the Scotti di San Giorgio, who profoundly adapted the building, transforming it into a stately home. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the Castle belonged for a short period to the Lombardi of Genoa; it was then sold to Eng. Giuseppe Manfredi, who had it restored by Prof. Camillo Guidotti. From 1930 to 1987, the building was owned by the Ursuline Mothers of Piacenza. Today, the Castle is used by the current owner as a venue for private events.

Vicobarone, of Roman origins, takes its name from a 'Vicus Varroni' of the imperial era and has been known as "Vici Baruni" since the year 833. Possession of the monastery of Bobbio and considered one of the first organized communities in the area, it expanded thanks to the numerous and important monastic cells of the Bobbio monastery, present in the area. The transformation of the castle dates back to the end of the seventeenth century, carried out by the Marquises Malvicini Fontana who made it an elegant residence with large and well-kept cellars. A final renovation was recently carried out by the current owners who adapted the building to accommodate tourists without altering its architectural characteristics and recovering the thousandth tower in which the "blade well" from the feudal era was located.

The history of this castle has been tormented, many changes of hands conditioned by bloody events, frauds and family extinctions due to lack of heirs. In 1412 it was owned by the Arcelli family (who were most likely responsible for the first construction). Arranged on a rectangular plan with five stone and brick towers. Four towers that stand out from the corners and an entrance donjon in the center of the north-west façade. The towers have different shapes but all are quadrangular and have battlements covered by roofs. The structure is made of stone except for the projections of the towers which are made of bricks. Although externally it still appears to be in good condition, the complex has significant stability problems.

The mighty castle of Momeliano, made up of three rectangular bodies arranged on a U-shaped plan, is the result of two construction phases. The oldest nucleus dates back to the fourteenth century, the most recent one can be dated between the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Over the centuries it underwent several changes of ownership, up to the Stevani family who, at the end of the nineteenth century, put much of the surrounding land under viticulture. The general state of conservation of the castle is good. Worth noting are: traces of the joints of the drawbridge in the building facing south-east; the battlements, now closed in an arch and accessible via a narrow corridor; the remains of the pointed arched windows walled up on the south-east front; the loggia towards the courtyard; two pairs of arches.

The Castle of Rezzanello appears mentioned for the first time in a document from 1001. On this occasion Bishop Sigifredo granted some land to the Benedictine monks of San Savino, including the Castle area. The castle has a trapezoidal plan with four towers that stand out from the corners and a large internal courtyard. The turrets have a round base, are elegantly slender and crowned by a projection supported by arches and covered by a conical roof. The same type of arches in double order creates a decorative motif in the attic. To adapt it to housing needs, numerous large windows were opened, regularly distributed on all the facades. Located in the center of a valley, it is surrounded by a splendid seven-hectare park with centuries-old plants, a fountain and streams. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the castle was transformed into a stately home. The new owner, Eng. Giuseppe Manfredi entrusted the intervention to the architect Camillo Guidotti who conducted it according to the late-romantic criteria then in vogue, altering the original design.

The Borgonuovo oppidum was founded in 1196 by the Municipality of Piacenza to defend the western border of its territories, equipped with a fortress, towers and city walls with an escarpment and fortified entrances. In the current complex, built entirely of bricks, the fortress and the receptacle can clearly be distinguished. These buildings together with the church and the pilgrims' hospital once formed the village of Calendasco. The body of the fortress has typical elements of fourteenth-century Po Valley castles, such as the sawtooth motif combined with the crowning of small windows with segmental arches. The deep moat, the entrance, once equipped with a drawbridge as can be seen from the recesses of the ravelin, and the pusterla, or small door, with drawbridge access are still visible. To the south is a semicircular tower much higher than the rest of the building; the north-east wing, equipped with a scarp and with a rustic appearance and lack of homogeneity, dates back to a later period. The entrance hall, covered by a cross vault decorated with sixteenth-century frescoes, leads into the courtyard where a portico with three arches is visible. The receptacle, a rustic body with small arched windows and a decorative sawtooth motif, is outside the moat, near the bridge-beater.

Fortress of Borgonovo Valtidone The Borgonuovo oppidum was founded in 1196 by the Municipality of Piacenza to defend the western border of its territories, equipped with a fortress, towers and city walls with an escarpment and fortified entrances. In the current complex, built entirely of bricks, the fortress and the receptacle can clearly be distinguished. These buildings together with the church and the pilgrims' hospital once formed the village of Calendasco. The body of the fortress has typical elements of fourteenth-century Po Valley castles, such as the sawtooth motif combined with the crowning of small windows with segmental arches. The deep moat, the entrance, once equipped with a drawbridge as can be seen from the recesses of the ravelin, and the pusterla, or small door, with drawbridge access are still visible. To the south is a semicircular tower much higher than the rest of the building; the north-east wing, equipped with a scarp and with a rustic appearance and lack of homogeneity, dates back to a later period. The entrance hall, covered by a cross vault decorated with sixteenth-century frescoes, leads into the courtyard where a portico with three arches is visible. The receptacle, a rustic body with small arched windows and a decorative sawtooth motif, is outside the moat, near the bridge-beater.

Very nice and well kept.