Pallavicino Castle (Varano de' Melegari)

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Pallavicino Castle

Pallavicino Castle in Varano de' Melegari

Alternative name(s): Castle of Varano
State : Italy (IT)
Location: Varano de' Melegari
Time of origin : 11th century
Castle type : lowland castle
Conservation status: restored
Construction: quarry stone
Geographical location: 44° 41′  N , 10° 0′  E Coordinates: 44° 41′ 15″  N , 10° 0′ 25.9″  E
Altitude: 196  m slm
Pallavicino Castle (Emilia Romagna)

The Castello Pallavicino , also called Castello di Varano , is a fortress in Varano de' Melegari in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy . It lies on the northern slope of the Ceno Valley.

story

From the 6th to the 8th century, the river Ceno was strategically important from a military point of view, as it marked the border between the territories of Parma and Piacenza . It is therefore safe to assume that even then there were fortifications to guard the watercourse and the roads that connected the Po Valley to what is now Liguria and what is now Tuscany .

The first source that mentions the existence of the original defensive fortress of Varano de' Melegari is the Cronaca Pallavicina of 1087; there it is mentioned that the complex belonged to Uberto Pallavicino , a descendant of Emperor Otto II 's imperial vicar , Margrave Adalbert von Baden .

In 1208 the city of Parma had the castle rebuilt on the remains of the previous 11th-century fortress.

In 1249 Frederick II enfeoffed the Margrave Oberto II Pallavicino with Varano.

In 1297 the city of Parma, opponent of the Ghibelline Pallavicini , destroyed the castle and decreed never to build any more fortress in Varano.

Around 1400 the Pallavicini had the castle rebuilt. During the struggles between the Rossis and the Terzis for the control of some strategically important places on the Parma plain, Ottobuono Terzi took the castle and gave it to the Viscontis . The latter probably had the castle rebuilt, which was fundamentally changed, above all on the outside, with the addition of new fortifications and towers that better corresponded to the military needs of the time.

In 1431 Duke Filippo Maria Visconti enfeoffed Margrave Rolando Pallavicino with the fortress. In 1441 Niccolò Piccinino plotted against the Pallavicino at the Visconti so that the Duke of Milan commissioned him to attack the Stato Pallavicino . Rolando Pallavicino was put to flight and all his fiefdoms were confiscated by the duke. In 1442 the latter had Annibale I Bentivoglio thrown into the prisons of the castle of Varano de' Melegari, who was boldly freed on June 6, 1443 by Galeazzo Marescotti and four other Guelphs . After returning to Bologna , Bentivoglio led the victorious revolt against Niccolò Piccinino, who ruled the city for the Viscontis.

Meanwhile, Rolando Pallavicino made several attempts to repossess his estates and in 1445 he proved his loyalty to the Visconti, who then returned almost all the confiscated lands to him, with the exception of Monticelli d'Ongina and some other fiefdoms, the Piccinino got. In 1452 the Marquis rebuilt the Castle of Varano, giving it its current appearance. After his death in 1457, his son Nicolò inherited the fiefdom.

In 1480 the castle fell to the Sforzas . However, Duke Gian Galeazzo Maria Sforza immediately sold it to Margrave Gianfrancesco I Pallavicino of Zibello .

In 1550 the fortress was plundered by bandits who killed Marquis Gianfrancesco I Pallavicino . The fief then fell to his brother Roberto . The following year, during the war of Parma , the castle was occupied. In this war, Duke Ottavio Farnese , supported by the King of France , Henry II , and Pope Julius III. , who was allied with Ferrante I Gonzaga , governor of Milan to Emperor Charles V , opposite. At the end of the conflict Pallavicino regained the castle.

In 1770 the Pallavicini had the castle restored, but in 1782 the last Margrave Ercole Pallavicino , archpriest of the Pieve in Pieve di Cusignano , died, wiping out the Varano branch of the family. All its estates were inherited by the Marquises of Bergonzi , who retained feudal rights until their abolition in 1805 during the Napoleonic era.

In 1828 the noble Grossardi family bought the castle; At the beginning of the 20th century, they were followed by the Levachers , who lived there until the death of their last descendant. The engineer Rolando Levacher made a number of changes to the interior in the early 20th century, adapting the rooms on the upper floor to the needs of the time.

In 1965 the fortress was sold to the brothers Giuseppe and Ermanno Tanzi ; In 2001 she acquired the Municipality of Varano de' Melegari and opened it to the public.

description

keep
Towers near the entrance

The castle rises on a sandstone massif in the center of the municipality of Varano de' Melegari around a central square courtyard.

The oldest part is the large tower at the north corner of the complex, which originally served as a keep and is the neuralgic heart of the entire fortress. Originally it was connected to the rest of the building by a drawbridge , which was later replaced by a brick bridge. On the ground floor are the old prisons where Annibale I Bentivoglio was imprisoned in 1442. Directly connected to this is the hall on the first floor, which used to serve as a courtroom. The bedroom of the lord of the castle is on the second floor, while the servants' room is on the top floor, which was also used as a granary at the time. At the very top is the walkway , which is higher than the rest of the building.

entrance tower
Entrance to the courtyard

Today the keep is surrounded by a small garden that connects it to the inner courtyard. At the corners of this patio you can still see the openings to which the wooden walkway with movable ladders used to be attached, leading to the numerous doors of the first floor; this used to be without any connection to the ground floor. It was only later that the grand staircase was built that leads up the inside of the keep.

The southeast side, which opens onto the settlement, has three towers aligned in line; the entrance is on one side of the middle tower. This layout distinguishes the castle from all other Visconti fortresses, whose style is evident in the characteristics of the battlement and the towers themselves.

Finally, there is no tower at the west corner, as it is directly above the overhanging rocks.

viewings

The castle has been open to the public since the early 2000s and is part of the castle circuit of the Associazione dei Castelli del Ducato di Parma, Piacenza e Pontremoli .

In addition to the courtyard, you can also visit the rooms on the first floor, the living room, the grand staircase, the battlements, the prisons of Bentivoglio and the old kitchens of the castle.

spook

Like many castles, the Castle of Varano de' Melegari is said to house a ghost. During a séance conducted in 2013 after some experimental measurements revealed some anomalies, a psychic is said to have sensed the presence of a young woman in a white dress named "Beatrice", identified as Margravine Beatrice Pallavicino , a woman , who died mysteriously in 1683 at the age of 21.

itemizations

  1. ↑ a b c d e f Cenni Storici . In: Castle of Varano . Retrieved December 2, 2021.
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h i Castello Varano Melegari . In: Castelli dell'Emilia Romagna: Censimento e Schedatura . Regione Emilia-Romagna. Archived from the original on September 14, 2016. Retrieved December 2, 2021.
  3. ↑ a b c d e f Varano de' Melegari - Castello Pallavicino . In: Castelli d'Italia - Ducato Parma e Piacenza . Retrieved December 2, 2021.
  4. ↑ abc Castello di Varano de' Melegari . In: Parma Welcome . Emilia Romagna Tourism. Retrieved December 2, 2021.
  5. ↑ Angelo Pezzana: Storia della città di Parma continuata . 2. Tomo. Ducale Tipografia, Parma 1842. pp. 446-448.
  6. ↑ Salvatore Muzzi: Annali della città di Bologna dalla sua origine al 1796 compilati da Salvatore Muzzi . 4. Tomo. Eg by S. Tommaso d'Aquino, Bologna 1842. pp. 289-295.
  7. ↑ Angelo Pezzana: Storia della città di Parma continuata . 2. Tomo. Ducale Tipografia, Parma 1842. p. 498.
  8. ↑ Pallavicino Orlando . In: Parma e la sua storia . Archived from the original on September 16, 2016. Retrieved December 2, 2021.
  9. ↑ Luigi Chini: I Pallavicino - la storia di una famiglia longobarda . LIR, Piacenza 2014. p. 30.
  10. ↑ abc Castello di Varano De' Melegari . In: Castelli del Ducato di Parma, Piacenza e Pontremoli . Retrieved December 3, 2021.
  11. ^ a b Castle of Varano de' Melegari . In: IAT Fornovo di Taro Bardi Bore Pellegrino Parmense Solignano Varano Varsi . Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved December 3, 2021.
  12. ↑ Fantasmi e legende tra i castelli del Ducato di Parma e Piacenza . In: Castelli del Ducato di Parma, Piacenza e Pontremoli – Notes . Retrieved December 3, 2021.
  13. ↑ Beatrice Pallavicino . In: GeneAll since 2000 . Retrieved December 3, 2021.

sources

  • Luigi Chini: I Pallavicino - la story di una famiglia longobarda . LIR, Piacenza 2014.
  • Salvatore Muzzi: Annali della città di Bologna dalla sua origine al 1796 compilati da Salvatore Muzzi . 4. Tomo. Eg by S. Tommaso d'Aquino, Bologna 1842.
  • Angelo Pezzana: Storia della città di Parma continuata . 2. Tomo. Ducale Tipografia, Parma 1842.

web links

Commons : Castello Pallavicino  - Collection of images