In the northern Italian province of Parma, close to Langhirano, sits the 15th-century Torrechiara Castle. It is strategically located south of the city of Parma, atop a terraced hill with a view of the Parma River and the valley below. Pier Maria II de Rossi, the fourth count of San Secondo, ordered the construction of the fortress, which was completed between 1448 and 1460. The fortification demonstrates the impact of the strongholds of the Sforza family, especially Visconti-Sforza Castle. In addition to serving as an aristocratic home for the mistress of de Rossi, Bianca Pellegrini d Arluno, the castle was constructed as a defensive fortress. Bianca passed away in Torrechiara circa 1480. In 1482, Pier Maria retired to Torrechiara, where he passed away a few months later. Both of them were interred in the northeast tower of the castle, at the Oratory of San Nicomede. Over the ages, the castle saw numerous ownership changes before being designated as a national monument in 1911. The Italian State bought it the next year and let the public use it without any furnishings. The castle was mostly rebuilt between 1448 and 1460, although it dates back to the Middle Ages. It comprises four rectangular towers united by two lines of merloned walls. Many rooms in the interior are furnished with fantastical, grotesque, or realistic characteristics. The paintings in the lunettes depict Bianca Pellegrini running through Rossi and her estates in quest of her beloved; Benedetto Bembo is credited with creating the fresco cycle. The room opens up onto a broad loggiato. On December 23, 2008, a moderate earthquake with a magnitude of roughly 5.2 rocked the area, seriously damaging the castle, especially the battlement and the outside walls of San Nicomede Tower. When structural renovations were finished in 2009, some of the rooms were off-limits to the general public. On the ground floor, where the early 19th-century reconstruction of the collapsing roof slab had occurred, the San Nicomede Oratory was refurbished. The old Sala della Sera was reconstructed and repaired on the main floor of the castle, and it was positioned at the end of the row containing the Aurora, Meriggio, and Vespro chambers. 2014 saw the castle reopen in July
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Monuments and Architecture
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