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Castell'Arquato is a beautiful medieval village and city of art. Strategically located on the foothills of Val D'Arda, the medieval village is perched along the hill, and dominates the passage. It is about thirty kilometers from the capital Piacenza and a little more from Parma. The historic center developed on the left bank of the Arda stream. The village was built according to the structure of medieval villages and has not undergone any noteworthy changes over the years. A village where culture, history, naturalistic riches and gastronomy blend in perfect harmony.
On the heights of the Val d'Arda, Castell'arquato, a medieval village,
is perched along the hill and dominates the landscape; 30 km from
Piacenza, at 224 meters above sea level.
The name derives from
Caio Torquato , the Roman patrician who founded the quadrangular plan of
the town.
In 565 the village, which managed to survive barbarian
invasions, was devastated by a terrible plague. In 1290
Alberto Scotti became lord
of Piacenza and also of Castell'Arquato, from which he was driven out
about fifteen years later, to return there in 1307 and govern until
1316, the year of a furious clash with Galeazzo Visconti . Scotti took
refuge with his soldiers, 3000 peasants in the village, but finally had
to surrender to the siege of Visconti. The Visconti domain lasted until
1450, in this year the village passed to the Sforza dynasty, which ended
three centuries later, the castell'arquato became part of the Duchy of
Parma and Piacenza.
The new lords were the Farnese and the
Bourbons until the advent of Napoleon . In 1860 the domains of Maria
Luigia of Austriathey pass to the Savoys and then to the Italian State.
Podestar Palace dates back to 1293; it was built on demand of
Alberto Scoto. It’s the most important witness of the Scottis domination
in Castell’Arquato.
The coat of arms of the municipality presents a complex figuration, in which various symbols linked to the past of the village can be recognized.
Heraldic description of the coat of arms:
«Red, to the one-piece turreted castle, Ghibelline crenellated, open, windowed and walled in black, juxtaposed by two stars of six golden rays and accompanied at the tip by a lily of the same; to two lions counter rampant to the castle and facing each other, also of gold»
The castle is a reminder of the fortified historic centre protected by walls; the colours white (silver) and red are a reference to the colorus present in the coat of arms of Piacenza , while the golden lion is the original emblem of the Sforza family, in particular of the cadet branch of Santa Fiora which held the feud of Castell'Arquato from the beginning of the sixteenth to the eighteenth century , who is represented as the "protector" of the Rocca arquatese. The two six-pointed gold stars derive from the arms of the Scotti family , while the golden lily refers to the Farnese family , the ducal family of Parma
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