Magnifico Pier Maria Rossi's impressive Torrechiara Castle is one of the most important examples of Italian castle architecture and is considered one of Emilia-Romagna's most storybook fortresses. Built between 1448 and 1460, its outer structure, featuring five massive square towers, is extraordinarily preserved while its interiors, though empty, harbour a series of grotesque, colourful and remarkably intact 15th- and 16th-century frescoes.
The most wondrous is Benedetto Bembo's Camera d'Oro, whose frescoes celebrate a tale of courtly love and chivalry between Pier Maria II de' Rossi and his lover, Bianca Pellegrini, and its striking late-16th-century terrace overlooking the Parma valley. The surrounding borgo (village) is worth a stroll as well and features a hotel, a few restaurants and gourmet food shops. The castle is located 18km south of Parma and can be reached on TEP bus 12.