Today only ruins remain of the massive Castle of Canossa, built on a panoramic white sandstone cliff, but the characteristics of the landscape that surround it and the historical memories that it witnessed make this castle in the Reggio Emilia Apennines a place of extraordinary charm.Īlso built by Adalberto Atto, Matilde of Canossa’s great-grandfather, it became the center of the complex Canossian defense system. The castle can be visited and inside it’s also possible to stay overnight, because there is a hostel with 54 beds. From its windows we overlook the wonderful surrounding hilly landscapes and the nearby Torre di Rossenella, a watchtower accessible by an easy path. The building is still perfectly preserved, also thanks to a recent restoration: it’s an extraordinary architectural jewel which can be accessed, after a short climb, through a stone arch.Ī small staircase leads to the fort consisting of the central core of the internal tower and 21 rooms arranged on several levels. The Castle of Rossena was built around 960 by Count Adalberto Atto, great-grandfather of Matilde of Canossa, for the specific purpose of building a stronghold in defense of Canossa Castle, the main seat of their power, located about 2 km away.Īfter Matilde of Canossa’s death, the castle passed from hand to hand among the main exponents of the Italian and international nobility and aristocracy among the families that owned it we can list the Da Correggio, the Farnese, Maria Luisa of Austria and the Este. The Castle is accessible only by guided tour of about 50 minutes. However, it also preserves interesting structures of the primitive fortress and, in one room, a 14th-century painting representing Matilde holding the pomegranate flower, the symbol of the church, and the motto tuetur et unit, that means “to protect and unite”. Here popes and princes stayed and always here in 1111 Matilde received Henry V and was proclaimed by him imperial vicar (vice-queen) of Italy.Īfter Matilde’s death, the castle underwent numerous transformations, which made it a stately home with frescoes, ballrooms and reception rooms. Here Matilde lived almost habitually and here she hosted Henry IV penitent, before the humiliation that took place in Canossa in 1077. The area is located within a 160-hectare protected natural oasis. Starting from the castle closest to the city of Reggio Emilia, the first stop on our itinerary is the Castle of Bianello, in the municipality of Quattro Castella.īuilt on a natural balcony in the first hills of the Reggio Emilia Apennines, from which you can enjoy a breathtaking view, this castle is the only survivor of the four located on the hills that give the municipal territory its name (Quattro Castella means “four castles”). What we propose is therefore an itinerary of 5 castles perched on the hills of Reggio Emilia that witnessed these important historical events: places that preserve the memory of an ancient time and which are still able to surprise the visitor today thanks to the spectacular landscapes from which they are surrounded. In these places some of the most important historical episodes of the time took place, such as the humiliation of Enrico IV in 1077 at the Canossa Castle (from which the phrase “go to Canossa” was born in reference to those who humiliate themselves or admit a mistake), the victory against the imperial army of the same Enrico IV in 1092, victory due also to the strategic network of castles, fortresses and fortified villages present in the Val d’Enza affiliated to Matilde, and her coronation as vice-queen of Italy by Enrico V at the Bianello Castle in 1111. Right here, in fact, around the year 1000 the famous Countess Matilde di Canossa placed the political and military center of her fiefdom, a territory extended from Lombardy to Tuscany, up to the borders with the Papal States. Perhaps not everyone knows that the Apennines of Reggio Emilia in the central centuries of the Middle Ages lived an era of great splendor.
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