Itinerary 3
During this itinerary you will understand why Piacenza is also called the town of the Mansions: as a matter of fact the noblemen of the past – in the absence of a king – could boast their rank with luxurious works. These buildings stand among other beautiful architectures, such as the Cathedral, one of the most famous religious monument of North Italy.
What to see
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Piazza Duomo
From Piazza Cavalli, towards east, along via XX Settembre - the shopping centre of the town – until Piazza Duomo. The date of birth of the Cathedral – the “mother church of Piacenza – is carved in latin on a rock at the portal "hoc laudabile templum". Its construction lasted over one century: it was started in 1122 by the Bishop Aldo and it was finished in 1233 by Rainaldo Santo da Sambuceto. Its architectural forms reveal a severe grandeur, in a mistic powerful vertical bounce. -
Via Roma
From piazza Duomo, take a look of the Farnese column that holds the statue of the Madonna (which stood the bombs during 1944-1945), you will reach via Legnano. On the corner with Via Roma you will find S. Rocco’s Oratory, built in 1577. In Via Roma you will see Palazzo Costa - where Costa’s family lived, a powerful textiles dealers family from Genoa; further on, Palazzo Anguissola from Grazzano built between 1774 and 1777, Palazzo Maruffi built by the Count Carlo Luigi Maruffi between 1685 and 1690. -
Giardini Margherita
Welcome to those coming from the railway station; It celebrates the centenary. Created by Count Giacomo Costa in the first half of the last century become a public park in 1882. -
San Savino
From the garden situated in the north of Via Roma, along via Alberoni, you will arrive on the churchyard of the Romanesque San Savino, restaured by parish priest Pio Cassinari and by the engineer Mr Ettore Martini at the beginning of 1900. The Basilica has a nave and two aisles divided by pilasters made of stone, and it was built on the foundations of a simple church erected in 903 by Bishop Everardo and destroyed by Hungarian hordes.