Castell'Arquato

The village rises in terraces above the Arda valley, with the fourteenth-century Rocca Viscontea at the top, a collegiate church from 1122 below it and the Palazzo del Podestà of 1293 on the same small square, so three centuries of civic and religious building face each other. The clay hills around are rich in Pliocene marine fossils, including whale and dolphin remains; the geological museum in the village holds specimens found locally, and the area is a reference site for the Piacenzian stage of the geological timescale, named after nearby Piacenza. Monterosso Val d'Arda wine is made on the slopes.

History

The old town keeps much of the appearance it had in the early 10th century, on a high rock that once commanded the valley, and the opera librettist Luigi Illica, Puccini's long-time collaborator, is among its people (Wikipedia, Castell'Arquato).

The main sights

• The Rocca Viscontea - a fourteenth-century fortress at the top of the terraces.
• The Piazza Municipale - church, palace and fortress on one small square.
• The fossil museum - Pliocene whale and shell finds from the local clay.
• The terraced plan - a village stacked in stages up the hillside.

When to go

April to October; food and wine festivals run through the autumn. Summer weekends bring day trippers from Milan and Piacenza. Winter is quiet and foggy.

Good to know

The village is small and steep, with parking below. The fossil museum is modest. Fog on the plain in winter can obscure the valley views entirely.

Nearby

Piacenza lies north; the Arda valley runs south.

Key facts