DESCRIPTION OF THE VALLEY

The Trebbia valley is considered to be the most important of the valleys in the province of Piacenza from a historic and geographic point of view, and combined with its beautiful natural appearance is, without a doubt, a rather fascinating valley.

During the first world war the young Ernest Hemingway visited this valley and described it, in his diary, as the most beautiful in the world.

The Trebbia river, which gives its name to the valley, has its source in the Ligurian mountains (30 Km. from Genova) and flows into the Po river, just West of Piacenza, after a tortuous 115 Km. The waters of the Trebbia are still rather pristine and in many locations along its course they offer, in the summer months, solace to numerous sunbathers and gratification to the many canoeists that come here from all over Europe.

The Trebbia river has various tributaries but the most important one is the Aveto which joins the Trebbia in the upper section a few kilometers South of Bobbio.

In the Trebbia valley we find 82 fortifications (castles, fortified towers and dwellings, etc.).

o CASTELLI DELLA VALTREBBIA

The valley's tourist office is situated in Bobbio piazza San Francesco; phone: 0523 962815

For information about visiting the castles, please call: 0523 329324

From Piacenza we head South to take highway S. S. 45 which basically follows the river Trebbia and then continues all the way to Genova.

Beside visiting the famous and historic town of Bobbio, there are various castles, old churches and charming hamlets with superb vistas. And not to be missed are the local fairs and festivals organized by the various "Pro loco" associations.

The upper valley is covered by extensive and beautiful woods and pastures which in the spring are covered by all sorts of wild flowers.

One should also remember that in this valley, in the vicinity of Tuna (map of battle), Hannibal defeated the Roman army in 218 B. C. in the famous "Battle of Trebbia"; but the precise location of the battle is still a bone of contention amongst scholars.

Archeological excavations in the valley have uncovered many artifacts that points to the long establishment of humans in this valley.

TOUR OF TREBBIA VALLEY (225 Km.)

FIND THESE PLACES with:

(140 m. a.s.l.)

For information phone: 0523 956030

Festivals/Fairs:
* Tourists Welcome - July 16
* Carnival of August - August 15
* September Fireworks - September 11
* Chestnuts Fair - October 16

From Gossolengo we follow the road southward for about 8 Km. and turn left towards Niviano where there is a medieval castle built with an orientation based on the cardinal points and boasting four well preserved towers at each angle. Presently the castle is used as farm dwellings. In 1877, in the vicinity of the nearby hamlet of Settima, a farmer, while plowing a field, found the now world-wide famous Etruscan Liver.

Before reaching Rivergaro we deviate to the right towards Pieve Dugliara where we can admire the majestic Gasparini Palace (1600) now used as a retirement home; also in this hamlet we find the interesting parish church built in the 1600.

Rivergaro, 18.5 Km. from Piacenza, is situated on the foothills on the right bank of the Trebbia river. Worth mentioning, but not open to the public, is Villa Anguissola Scotti built on the ruins of an ancient fortification by the renowned architect Lotario Tomba of Piacenza in 1778 in the neo-classic style .

In the historic center of the town we find the parish church, built by Antonio Tomba (1813) and dedicated to Saint Agata, exhibiting a painting (The Martyrdom of Saint Margaret) attributed to Sebastiano Galeotti and also two paintings of the Flemish artist De Longe (XVII c.) Nearby there is also the Oratory of Saint Rocco built at the beginning of the 1600 and modified in the XIX c.; in the chapel on the right we find the painting "Madonna with the Baby between Saint Lucy and Saint Biagio" attributed to Giacomo Ceruti, called Pitocchetto, dated about 1737/1739.

On the hill-top overlooking the main piazza stands the Sanctuary of the Madonna of the Castle, so called because it was built on the ruins of an ancient castle, whose walls on the right incorporate roman brickwork. From this hill-top one can enjoy a very nice panoramic view of the Trebbia and the surrounding mountains.

Also worth mentioning in the vicinity are the castles of Montechiaro and Ancarano. The Montechiaro castle was built in a unique fashion (origins late XII c.): a square tower stands in the middle of the hexagonal court-yard with high walls and the whole is surrounded by yet another irregular set of walls.
The medieval castle of Ancarano was modified during the Renaissance period to which the style of its windows belongs.

(171 m. a.s.l.)
For information phone: 0523 950121

Festivals/Fairs:
* Freedom day - April 25

In Statto we find a rather charming and compact castle (first mentioned in 1296) fortified with four circular towers at each angle and displaying large windows adorned with brickwork ornaments attesting to the evolution from a fortification to an aristocratic dwelling.
From here we can divert to Scrivellano (castle) and to Pigazzano (462 m. a.s.l.) where, from the churchyard, we can enjoy one of the best views over the Padana valley all the way to the Alps (even better at night, with the flickering lights below and in the distance).

We now proceed towards Rivalta where the castle stands on a low hill overlooking the Trebbia river. The castle of Rivalta, presently well looked after by the family Count Zanardi Landi, presents different style of construction; in the oldest medieval part a massive square tower (36 m. high) built with bricks and stones stands at the entrance of the village; of the same period there is a pointed arch and a semi-circular tower. In the 1400 the building was extended with luxurious additions around a charming courtyard with renaissance style porticos and galleries. The characteristic massive pointed circular tower was built in the 1700.

From Rivalta Trebbia we proceed South following the road, at times with fine panoramic views, on the left bank of the Trebbia reaching Travo in about 20 Km.
Before reaching the town we notice the Oratory of Saint Mary recently restored, but whose origins go back to the middle of the XI c. and partly visible in the two small apses; in the interior there are frescoes of the XV c.

A legend has conveyed to us that in Travo, in 303 A. D., the legionnaire Antonino suffered martyrdom after refusing to make offerings to the Roman goddess Minerva. It is believed that the most important temple in Northern Italy dedicate to Minerva Medica Cabardiacense once stood here in Travo or in nearby Caverzago; in fact many inscribed fragments of the temple have been found in the area and some can be seen incorporated in the walls of the rectory of the church in nearby Caverzago, just South of Travo.

In the circular tower of the Anguissola castle there is a laboratory of the National Archeological Museum of Parma where artifacts of recent and mainly Neolithic excavations in this valley are displayed.

From Travo we should proceed to Bobbiano for a very interesting excursion to the picturesque Oratory of Perducca and from the nearby Vei ascend, in 30 minutes by foot, on top of Pietra Parcellara.

PIETRA PARCELLARA

(272 m. a.s.l.)
For information phone : 0523 936178

Festivals/Fairs:
* Summer musical courses - July 18 to August 14
* Theater etc. - First week of August
* Mushroom fair - September
* Saint Columban patron saint - November 23

Museo Etnografico Valtrebbia

Comune di Bobbio link

We finally arrive in Bobbio, the main economic and tourist center of the valley. Here, in 612 A. D., the Irish monk Saint Columban (or St. Columbanus) established a monastery which became, in the IX and XII c. famous throughout Europe for the established schools, the scriptorium and its renowned library, whose content, alas, has since been widely dispersed.
For a long period, Bobbio, was the bishopric seat of the surrounding area, but recently the Dioceses of Piacenza has taken over jurisdiction; now it is called the Dioceses of Piacenza - Bobbio.
Visiting the town, to be done on foot, takes us first to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Help whose construction, started in 1621 and continuing for the next 30 years, was based on the plan of Andrea del Lago di Como (The façade was built in 1929; the bell tower was built in 1611).
Then the Abbey of Saint Columban in the nearby Saint Fara square. At the apses side of the church, XV c., there is a long portico with columns, planned in 1570 by Ambrogio Primi, with at the end, still visible, the remains of the original cloister, through which the Abbey's Museum is accessible.
The façade of the Basilica is embellished by a prostyle portico which was added in the XVI c. The interior is divided in three naves by pilasters of various styles and exhibits decorations by Bernardino Lanzani (1526). In the first chapel on the left there is a baptismal font in Longobard style, decorated with osier motifs, dated from the IX c., and a wooden gable from the XVII c. In the main chapel, decorated with frescoes of the XVII c., we find a splendid inlaid wooden choir created by Domenico da Piacenza (1488).
On either side of the main chapel, two set of stairs lead into the crypt (XV c.) Here in 1910, at the depth of 2.4 meters, a mosaic floor (follow the MOSAIC link) was discovered dating to the beginning of the XII c. with one section representing the months of the year with zodiacal emblems and the other the Maccabees story. On the right side of the crypt there is a rare and beautiful wrought iron gate built in the XII c.
In the middle stands the marble sarcophagus of Saint Columban, who died here in 615 A. D., created by Giovanni dei Petrarchi da Milano in 1480.

From the Basilica we now proceed to the Cathedral built around 1075 and subsequently altered from the XIII c. onward; the present façade was built in 1463. The interior , divided in three naves, was decorated in a neo-gothic style by Aristide Secchi from Lodi (1896), also includes decorations from the 1400 and 1500.

A feature of Bobbio is the Hunchedback bridge over the Trebbia river, and whose construction , some say, could be dated back to 1440. Overlooking the town stands the Castle, originally built in 1315 by Malaspina and consequently taken over by Pietro Dal Verme in 1440, still boasting the massive dungeon, now utilized as a museum.

An interesting excursion from Bobbio is the drive up to the Penice Pass (1149 m.) 16 Km. away, from where one can proceed all the way up to the Sanctuary (XVII c.) standing at the top of the mountain Penice (1460 m.) where in the antiquity once stood a temple for the cult of the mountain peaks. From here one can enjoy a very fine view all around.

From the pass we can descend into the Tidone Valley.

(639 m. a.s.l.)
For information phone : 0523 931117

Festivals/Fairs:
*Traditional fair - May 28 at the Sanctuary of Saint Augustin

HIKING: The trip Bobbio - Coli could also be done on foot in about 1.5 hr. (plus 1.5 hr. for the return trip); another very interesting hiking trip is the Curiasca Loop for a total of 5 hrs.; along the trail we find the ruins of a grist mill that was still in use in the 1970's and hamlets with the typical stone dwellings and ovens.

(321 m. a.s.l.)
For information phone: 0523 934110

Festivals/Fairs:
* Little sausage "salamino" fair - end of October beginning of November
* May fair "Calen di Maggio" April 30/May 1
* Hiking the trails of Brugnatello - August 15

The town hall of the municipality called Corte Brugnatella is in Marsaglia where various torrents and their valleys join the Trebbia; the most important one is Aveto valley where we find the peaceful hamlet of Salsominore (390 m. a.s.l.) named after a natural salty spring.
A worthy side trip is the drive up, in two kilometers, to Brugnello (464 m. a.s.l.) perhaps the most suggestive hamlets in all of the valley, due to its stone-built dwellings and charming white church nesting precariously on a rocky abutment.

From Marsaglia we can drive up a narrow but often scenic road to the Mercatello pass (1050 m. a.s.l.) and eventually reach Ferriere in the Nure valley.

(725 m. a.s.l.)
For information phone : 0523 939210

Festivals/Fairs:
* Saint Laurence patron saint - August 10

HIKING: Interesting trails will take you to Monte delle Tane (Mountain of the caves) at 1198 m. a.s.l. ; and to the chestnut-grove, pine-grove and pastures of Fontana Baia, where many natural springs can be found.

(492 m. a.s.l.)
For information phone : 0523 930122

Festivals/Fairs:
* Saint Marziano patron saint - October 20
* Main fair - August 24 (3 days)

The parish church, built between 1690 and 1705 contains decorations in plaster and Baroque style altars.
To the North of the town (1.3 Km.) on the way to the cemetery there is the grist mill of the "Prince" boasting the rare structure of two wheels one on top of the other, and further still the church of Saint Bartholomew (XVII c.) with the Romanesque bell tower and a bell dated 1365.

HIKING: To Alfeo mountain (1650 m. a.s.l.) in about 3 hrs. through extensive pastures and a rewarding great panorama at the top.

(775 m. a.s.l.)
For information phone : 0523 935102

Festivals/Fairs:
* Village fair - second Sunday of May
* Our Lady of Help Patron Saint - third Sunday of August
* Saint Michael - September 29

Also in the vicinity and worth visiting is the small hamlet of Tartago with its traditional stone-built houses.

From here Piacenza is 77 Km. away.