Photo: Parma1983, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
At a glance
- Type
- Castle
- Period
- Middle Ages, 14th century
- Protection
- Italian national heritage
- Coordinates
- 44°41′02″ N, 10°14′13″ E
- Address
- Strada al Castello, 1
History and description
The Castello di Felino or Felino Castle is a medieval manor house located on a hillside location at Al Castello Road 1 in Felino, in the province of Parma, region of Emilia Romagna, Italy; the building is home to a restaurant and the Felino salami museum.
History
Although the village of Felino had been founded before 948, the year in which King Lothair II of Italy granted Count Manfredo di Ugo of Parma the rights over the Curtis Filinum and fifteen others in the territory, the first certain news of the existence of a castrum in Felino date back to 1140, when Abbess Agnese of St. Alexander of Parma succeeded in having Pope Innocent II recognize the monastery's rights over the chapels of St. Peter and St. Christopher, placed one inside and the other outside the fortress.
In 1186, at the end of the struggle between Frederick Barbarossa and the Italian Communes, the fiefdom of Felino, along with the lands of San Michele de' Gatti, Barbiano, Carignano, and Paderno, was awarded by the Emperor to Guido de' Ruggeri of Parma and his heirs, in gratitude for their loyalty.
In 1325, the troops of the Lord of Milan Azzone Visconti, allied with the Pallavicino family, attacked the Parmense, sacking numerous villages, including Felino, which was set on fire; the castle, strenuously defended by Bonaccorso de' Ruggeri, was saved.
Thanks to a clever matrimonial policy carried out by the Rossi family, for two generations married the three descendants of the de' Ruggeri family, in 1346 the fiefdom and castle of Felino, with the lands of San Michele de' Gatti, Barbiano, Carignano, and Paderno, were bequeathed by Bonaccorso de' Ruggeri to his two sons-in-law Giacomo de' Rossi, Count of San Secondo, and Ugolino de' Rossi, the latter's cousin. …
Description
The castle, made entirely of stone mixed with bricks, stands on the top of a hill at the gates of the Baganza Valley, inside a park accessible through a high round brick portal. The manor is built on a rectangular plan around the central courtyard, with four towers placed at the ends and a turret in the middle of the southwestern side to protect the small entrance bridge; a deep moat stretches around the perimeter of the building, originally surrounded by walls and other fortifications, of which only a few traces survive the 15th-century destruction.
The building clearly shows signs of the demolitions ordered by Ludovico il Moro in 1483. The fortress rises on a high scarp base, on which several embrasures open here and there; the exterior elevations of the four castle bodies, as well as the keep to the south, are characterized by the presence of long corbels with machicolations, on which defensive structures were formerly placed, destroyed at the end of the 15th century.
The main façade presents in the middle the building's only access, reached through a high stone arched bridge, the last wooden span of which was formerly a drawbridge; the round-arched entrance is surmounted by a plastered turret, characterized by the presence of the two tall slits that originally housed the bridge bolzone; at the top, above a small triangular pediment and a central opening, are symmetrically placed two single-light round-arched windows.
While the west and north towers have no corbels and culminate in a roof without a cornice, the east keep, probably rebuilt in the first half of the 16th century on an irregular pentagonal plan spurred northward, has a cornice of corbels on the perimeter and is topped by a dungeon, which reaches an elevation of 330 m above sea level. …
Text from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Full article: «Castello di Felino».
Timeline
- 14th centuryBuilt
Events and people from Wikidata (CC0).
Photos
Getting there
CollecchioTrain, nearest
8.2 km as the crow flies
Castello di FelinoStrada al Castello, 1
Aeroporto di Parma "Giuseppe Verdi"16.5 km
Distances are as the crow flies, not walking or driving.
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Nearby
See on the mapMore castles in Emilia-Romagna
- Free 1st Sunday
Frequently asked questions
Where is Castello di Felino?
Castello di Felino is in Felino, in the province of Parma (Emilia-Romagna), Italy. Address: Strada al Castello, 1. GPS coordinates: 44.68394, 10.23689.
How old is Castello di Felino?
Wikidata dates it to the 14th century.
What else is there to see near Castello di Felino?
Nearby you’ll find: Villa Caumont Caimi (1.1 km away), Museo del salame di Felino (1.3 km away), Castello di Tiorre (3.2 km away).
Sources and licences
Text. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Data. Wikidata (CC0); opening hours and contacts OpenStreetMap (ODbL).
Photos. Wikimedia Commons, author and licence on every image.
Credits for the 9 photos
- Castello (Felino) - facciata 5 2022 07 17 — Parma1983, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Castello (Felino) - facciata 1 2022-07-17 — Parma1983, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Castello (Felino) - facciata 2 2022-07-17 — Parma1983, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Castello (Felino) - facciata 3 2022-07-17 — Parma1983, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Castello (Felino) - facciata 4 2022-07-17 — Parma1983, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Castello (Felino) - facciata 6 2022-07-17 — Parma1983, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Castello (Felino) - facciata 7 2022 07 17 — Parma1983, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Castello (Felino) - lati nord-est e nord-ovest 2022-07-17 — Parma1983, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Castello (Felino) - lato nord-est 1 2022-07-17 — Parma1983, CC BY-SA 4.0
Updated 28 October 2026. All sources and licences