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Vigoleno


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The fortified village of Vigoleno is one of the most important historical monuments in the Piacenza area, in Emilia Romagna. The village is still accessed through the same door that over the centuries has seen soldiers, ladies and knights pass by.
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Vigoleno  | Fabio Lotti/shutterstock
Vigoleno
Fabio Lotti/shutterstock
Vigoleno  | Fabio Lotti/shutterstock
Vigoleno
Fabio Lotti/shutterstock
Vigoleno  | Claudio Giovanni Colombo/shutterstock
Vigoleno
Claudio Giovanni Colombo/shutterstock
Vigoleno  | Fabio Lotti/shutterstock
Vigoleno
Fabio Lotti/shutterstock
The castle  | leoks/shutterstock
The castle
leoks/shutterstock
Vigoleno  | Fabio Lotti/shutterstock
Vigoleno
Fabio Lotti/shutterstock
Vigoleno  | Leonardo Nicolini
Vigoleno
Leonardo Nicolini
Vigoleno  | Leonardo Nicolini
Vigoleno
Leonardo Nicolini
Vigoleno  | Leonardo Nicolini
Vigoleno
Leonardo Nicolini
Vigoleno  | Leonardo Nicolini
Vigoleno
Leonardo Nicolini
Vigoleno  | Leonardo Nicolini
Vigoleno
Leonardo Nicolini
Vigoleno  | Leonardo Nicolini
Vigoleno
Leonardo Nicolini
Vigoleno  | Leonardo Nicolini
Vigoleno
Leonardo Nicolini
Vigoleno  | Leonardo Nicolini
Vigoleno
Leonardo Nicolini
Vigoleno  | Leonardo Nicolini
Vigoleno
Leonardo Nicolini
Vigoleno  | Leonardo Nicolini
Vigoleno
Leonardo Nicolini
Vigoleno  | Leonardo Nicolini
Vigoleno
Leonardo Nicolini
Vigoleno  | Leonardo Nicolini
Vigoleno
Leonardo Nicolini
A look at Vigoleno
A look at Vigoleno
The entrance to a house in Vigoleno  | Ivan Pisoni - e-borghi Community
The entrance to a house in Vigoleno
Ivan Pisoni - e-borghi Community
Entering Vigoleno. The arch with the particular bear statue.  | Ivan Pisoni - e-borghi Community
Entering Vigoleno. The arch with the particular...
Ivan Pisoni - e-borghi Community
On the towers of Vigoleno  | Ivan Pisoni - e-borghi Community
On the towers of Vigoleno
Ivan Pisoni - e-borghi Community

About the village

The fortified village of Vigoleno is one of the most important historical monuments of the territory of Piacenza, both for the elegance of its forms that for exceptional integrity of the entire plant Castrense.

Membership for five centuries, almost uninterrupted, to the noble family Scotti, has allowed the village to be among those best preserved. It is a combination of history and art but also of the gastronomic culture, where you can enjoy: salami DOP, tortelli, anolini, game, cheeses accompanied by DOC wines of the Colli piacentini. A real rarity DOC is represented by Vin Santo of Vigoleno, a Passito Wine of limited production kept in small wooden barrels for at least five years.

Given the strategic importance of the territory on the border with Parma, were assumed to defensive structures since the roman age. The existence of the fortifications of Vigoleno, however, is testified for the first time in the XII century, when the village churches protection to the commune of Piacenza. Further defensive additions were ordered in 1306 by Alberto Scotti, the merchant family Scotti of Piacenza. The town of Piacenza occupied following the site by destroying their defenses ricostruendole and after a short time. In the second half of the XIV century, the milanese family of the Visconti got the castle and then lose it and riottenerlo, thanks to a deception, during the war between the Duchy of Milan and Amedeo VI of Savoy. For order of Galeazzo Visconti castle was destroyed almost completely. The the Scotti family obtained the license to rebuild the castle in 1385 and lived in it for almost its entire history, until early 1900, when for economic reasons it was forced to sell it.

In the twenties and thirties of 1900, the castle became the property of Princess Mary Ruspoli-Gramont which invited in his residence extraordinary characters of the elite and the culture of the time such as Gabriele D Annunzio, Riccardo Bacchelli, the pianist Arthur Rubinstein and painters Max Ernst and Alexandre Jacovleff (which is responsible for the decoration of the theater of the castle). In the castle of private property and is currently used as a hotel, you can visit the noble floor, with the ancient halls and the Piccolo Teatro just 12 places.

The village, still today it is accessed for the same port that over the centuries has seen soldiers, ladies and knights. Passed the entrance, you enter the piazza with its center at the sixteenth-century fountain. Next to it rises the Donjon, mighty quadrangular tower which dominates the surrounding landscape. Located in front of the entrance of the castle there is the Oratory of the Madonna delle Grazie, elegant seventeenth century building, built on the ruins of an ancient hospitable for the faithful traveling along the Via Francigena. Going eastwards, you reach the Parish Church of San Giorgio. The Church, among the most suggestive examples of Paduan Romanesque, preserves in the facade the valuable lunette of Saint George killing the dragon. The stones with golden hues of the houses in the village, show sometimes remains of fossil shells that recall a time very far in which the whole area was covered by the waters of the sea.

Vigoleno is also included in the Regional Park of the Stirone and Piacenziano, a protected area that has significant elements of geological and naturalistic interest.

Village of Vigoleno
Municipality of Vernasca
Province of Piacenza
Region Emilia Romagna

Inhabitants: vigolenesi
Altitude center: 420 m a.s.l.

The Municipality is part of:
I Borghi più belli d'Italia
Association for the Castles in the Duchy of Parma and Piacenza

Acknowledgments
Orange Flag - Italian Touring Club

Protected Natural Areas:
Stirone Regional River Park
Nature Reserve Geology of Piacenzano

Municipality
Via G. Sidoli 3 - 29010 Vernasca (PC)

= distances as the crow flies

Vin Santo di Vigoleno DOC
A true rarity of Italian wine production is Vin Santo di Vigoleno. It is a passito wine stored in small wooden barrels for at least five years. It has a limited production (about 2,500 bottles per year) and is made using the best grapes from exclusively white and non-aromatic vines (S.Maria, Melara, Bervedino, Marsanne, Sauvignon, Ortrugo and Trebbiano). Vin Santo di Vigoleno is a doc "meditation" wine that can be paired with pastries and savory and spicy cheeses.

  • From March to October – handicrafts street markets.
  • June (Friday or saturday of full moon) - Night dei Briganti. Night walk with refreshment points and dances from Vigoleno in Vernasca.
  • last weekend of July - Bascherdeis. International Festival of street artists in Vernasca.July and August - Literature in the places of history. Readings of excerpts of the works of great authors.
  • first or second Saturday in August - Vin Santo Dinner. Dinner in the square of the village under the starry sky.

Sleep, eat, buy...

Albergo Ristorante Piacentino
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Piazza S. Francesco, 19, Bobbio (Piacenza)
40.90 Kilometers from Vigoleno
= distances as the crow flies
= distances as the crow flies

Events

from
thursday
1
june, 2023
to saturday 1 july 2023

Vigoleno in Festa ... with anolino

saturday
24
june, 2023

Wine Festival

from
saturday
1
july, 2023
to wednesday 30 august 2023

Literature in places of history

from
saturday
1
july, 2023
to wednesday 30 august 2023

Summertime in Jazz

sunday
17
september, 2023

Feast of potato

thursday
25
april, 2024

Patronal feast of St. George

tuesday
30
april, 2024

Cantamaggio

from
wednesday
1
may, 2024
to friday 31 may 2024

VinoLeno

Our news about Vigoleno

Bargnolino is a typical liquor in the provinces of Parma and Piacenza, which is named after its main ingredient: the berries of the Prunus Spinosa plant, a shrub from with spiky branches that produces blue fruits, vulgarly called prugnolo or black thorn, but in Piacenza’s dialect, everybody calls it bargnò. It is an intense alcoholic and digestive drink that has to be tasted lowly with great moderation. Its preparation begins at the end of September with the harvest of berries, which in this period r...
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Vigoleno is a charming medieval village in the province of Piacenza. Nestled within the mighty walls, it was originally a hospitale, a place where the pilgrims of the time could stay and rest before continuing their journey, the hamlet has remained almost completely intact and still have the ancient charm of time.
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