The Nature Geological reserve of Piacenziano

Zena Castle is located in the plane between Fiorenzuola and Piacenza.
It is made up of six historical buildings with a total surface of 4,000 square metres, in a green area of about 20,000 square metres.
It is next to a farm of about 40 hectares, in an area rich in beautiful landscapes. www.castellodizena.it

The Romans inhabited these lands; Carpenetus was mentioned in a paper dating back to 816. In Piazza XX Settembre there is the castle, today Town Hall; it has been restored many times but it shows 15th-century elements: the scarp walls and the arcade supported by granitic columns and sandstone capitals with the Scottis’ coat of arms. SS. Fermo and Rustico’s lies near the castle: it was erected before the year 1000 in the Romanesque style. It preserves a 15th-century fresco of the Virgin and the fresco of the nave representing Scenes of the Patrons’ lives (1681), maybe a work by the Bibiena’s school.

Gropparello Castle is located in the exceptionally green Val Vezzeno and has been constructed on a rocky precipice of volcanic origin. It faces a “ravine” which is of considerable interest in terms of geology and landscape.The ancient Fortress, once known as Cagnano Stronghold, an unsurmountable military unit, is a typical example of medieval fortress placed in defence of the access to a valley. It’s possible to walk around it and inwards, through the ancient noble rooms, the walls of an ancient tavern underneath the hall, up to the tower’s terrace to see the sight.
Gropparello Castle remains one of the complexes that maintain the enchant of medieval fortification, because of the beautiful landscapes it’s set into and of its very particular structure, entirely set into a rock. The guide will take care of any of your interest or curiosity about the castle, history and life in the middle ages. www.castellodigropparello.it

The wood surrounding the castle is made up mainly of deciduous trees (oak, beech, elm) and evergreens.
The castle, parts of which date back ot the 11th century, is built in a dominant position, on a sugar-loaf mountain where evidence of a marine past can be found in the shells and other fossil remains. The castle was also one of an important series of castle and signal towers. www.castellodipratottesola.com

Rustigazzo is a pleasant, sunny village in the hills that has been transformed into a modern and hospitable resort for the summer holiday. In summer, it takes a new life, as well as holiday-makers there is also the presence of third-generation emigrants.
In the Piazza Centrale XXV Aprile, the heart of the village, you can see an old castle from 1372, the feud of Anguissola Scotti and the church dedicated to Santa Maria Assunta.

Before crossing the bridge over the river Nure, visit the ancient village of San Bernardino, with some 18th-centuy buildings on the right bank of the river.
Its homonymous aisleless church dates back to the 17th century; the interior preserves stuccoes, frescoes by G. B. Galluzzi (1716), works of art by the Bibiena’s School and the coat of arms of the Nicellis, the Colombos, the Cavallis.
Do not cross the bridge, but turn left towards Bramaiano, where you will see the imposing and square Farnese Tower, turned into a private residence; some small balconies and the shrine by the entrance refine its mighty structure. Now cross the bridge to visit the ancient village of San Giovanni, with its wide Piazza Colombo, overlooked by the statue of the navigator by Astorri, inaugurated in 1892, on the occasion of the four-hundredth anniversary of the discovery of America.
Here there is the beautiful Romanesque-Gothic Sanctuary of the Madonna of the Oak, built between 1879 and 1885 on a plan by the engineer Guglielmo della Cella; the bell tower dates back to 1929.

Groppallo is a destination for summer holidays, especially by emigrants wich from France come back to the homeland. There come also youth football teams, which are used to have Groppallo as destinantion of their summer retreats.