Castello di Scipione

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Coordinates: 44 ° 49 ′ 40.3 ″  N , 9 ° 57 ′ 49 ″  E

Castello di Scipione (2016)

The Castello di Scipione , also known as Castello Pallavicino , is a medieval castle in Scipione Castello, a district of the municipality of Salsomaggiore Terme in the province of Parma .

history

Until the modern age

The original castle was built in 1025 by Adalberto II Pallavicino on the remains of a Roman villa . According to tradition, the villa belonged to the consul Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio Calvus , an uncle of Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus , the general who destroyed Carthage , which is why it got its name. The elevated fortress formed part of the defense system of the Pallavicino family, who ruled an area between Parma , Cremona and Piacenza . The Pallavicini controlled the production of salt extracted from artesian wells in the nearby Salsomaggiore valley . During this time the fortress was given the nickname Castello del Sale (Salzburg) .

In 1267, at the time of the fighting between Ghibellines and Guelphs , the castle was attacked several times by families from Piacenza and later, in 1403 and 1407, by the Guelph families Rossi, Da Correggio and Terzi. In 1447 it was rebuilt by the brothers Lodovico and Giovanni Pallavicino in order to be able to better protect themselves against attacks with firearms . The round tower and reinforced walls date from this period , and dungeons were built that have been preserved.

In the middle of the 17th century, the castle was transformed into an elegant aristocratic residence by adding a panoramic loggia, opening the entrance portal to the courtyard and decorating the interior with paneling and frescoes . In 1776 Dorotea Pallavincino married Duke Carlo Sforza Fogliani d'Aragona, and the castello passed into the possession of his family. Her descendants lived in the castle until Clelia Sforza Fogliani d'Aragona died childless in the early 20th century. Shortly before her death, she donated the castle to the Opera Nazionale Orfani di Guerra , which used it as a home for orphans of the First World War . In 1922 the Castello was declared a "National Monument".

Since the 20th century

Fascist internment camp

In July 1940 the fascists set up an internment camp in the fortress . It was initially designed for 200 prisoners. The first prisoners in Scipione were mainly Italians who were classed as opponents of the regime, and to a lesser extent foreign Jews and members of enemy states. The internees began to be transferred just a month later, and the camp was closed in September.

In the second half of August 1942 the camp was reopened and only Slavs from Slovenia , Dalmatia and a small part from Venezia Giulia were imprisoned there. Conditions in the so-called Slavs camp were wretched, especially due to the chronic food shortage and the damp and unheated castle rooms in the winter of 1942/43. Between June and July 1943, 128 prisoners were transferred to other camps. Then almost 150 internees, including some women, were transferred from the camp on Lipari to the castle. At the end of July 1943, 173 people were the largest number of prisoners in the camp.

At the time of the Cassibile armistice, there were still around 150 prisoners in the castle. In the turmoil of the following days, 31 of them managed to escape. After being taken over by the Germans, other prisoners were initially released who, in the eyes of the Germans, were locked up for minor reasons.

From the end of 1943, the Germans locked up political prisoners on Scipione as well as Italian and foreign Jews who had fallen into their hands during raids in the province of Parma. In December 1943 the camp was converted into the Jewish camp responsible for the province. In June 1944, it served as a transit camp for Jews from the camp in Roccatederighi in Tuscany , which for Fossoli were determined. After repeated partisan attacks, it was finally disbanded in September 1944.

restoration

After the Castello had stood empty for a few years, it was acquired in 1969 by the Danish diplomat Christian Frederik Per von Holstein, who gave it to his wife Maria Luisa, a descendant of the Pallavicino family. In the following years, the first restoration work began on the interior, some of which were opened to the public in 2008. In 2011, the owners had further restoration work carried out and additional rooms were opened to visitors and two suites were equipped for renting out to tourists. The project was carried out by the architect René von Holstein and received a grant from the European Regional Development Fund in 2010.

Making history taboo

According to a report in La Repubblica from 2012, the current owners of the castle deny the use of the Castello as an internment and transit camp, although the findings of historians are clear. The castle owners had banned entry to RAI journalists in 2009 when it became clear that they wanted to report on the castle's function as a warehouse.

literature

  • Pier Andrea Corna: Castelli e rocche del Piacentino . Unione Tipografica Piacentina, Piacenza 1913.
  • Alessandra Mordacci: Il Castello di Scipione . Gazzetta di Parma, Parma 2009.
  • Carlo Spartaco Capogreco: I campi del duce. L'internamento civile nell'Italia fascista (1940-1943) . Einaudi, Turin 2004, ISBN 88-06-16781-2 .

Web links

Commons : Castello di Scipione  - collection of images

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Castello di Scipione. castellodiscipione.it, accessed May 7, 2021 .
  2. ^ Castello del Sale. castellodiscipione.it, accessed May 7, 2021 .
  3. ^ Castello di Scipione dei Marchesi Pallavicino - I Castelli del Ducato di Parma, Piacenza e Pontremoli. castellidelducato.it, accessed May 9, 2021 (Italian).
  4. ↑ Scipione - Liljenstolpeska släktföreningen. liljenstolpe.org, August 31, 2019, accessed May 9, 2021 (Swedish).
  5. ^ Castello di Scipione. preboggion.it, accessed May 9, 2021 (Italian).
  6. ^ Castello di Scipione. Retrieved May 30, 2021 .
  7. ↑ Carlo Spartaco Capogreco: I Campi del duce. L'internamento civile nell'Italia fascista (1940-1943). P. 180.
  8. ↑ Carlo Spartaco Capogreco: I Campi del duce. L'internamento civile nell'Italia fascista (1940-1943). Pp. 180-181.
  9. ↑ a b Carlo Spartaco Capogreco: I Campi del duce. L'internamento civile nell'Italia fascista (1940-1943). P. 181.
  10. ↑ Deportazione razziale e Shoah. ISREC Parma, accessed May 9, 2021 .
  11. ^ Campo di concentramento di Scipione. In: pietredinciampoparma.it. Retrieved May 9, 2021 (Italian).
  12. ↑ Il restauro del 2011. castellodiscipione.it, accessed on May 9, 2021 .
  13. ↑ Il storage negato di Salsomaggiore "Macché, solo ladri di salame". In: la Repubblica. January 27, 2012, accessed May 30, 2021 (Italian).