Attractions and Places To See around Montecchio Emilia - Top 20

The Barboj Park owes its name to the rumbling sounds that accompany the emission of methane gases, salt water, hydrocarbons, methane, carbon dioxide, and mud from the subsurface through numerous small volcanoes of varying shapes and sizes, some up to 1 m high. These geological features, considered the most important in western Emilia, also extend to the nearby town of Torre di Traversetolo, to which the area is connected by several marked trails. The salse are characterized by the eruption of muddy salt water from spring pools, used for medicinal purposes until the 19th century, which flows into the small Barboj stream, a tributary of the Termina stream. SOURCE: https://parmawelcome.it/scheda/parco-dei-barboj/

The patronage of this church—dedicated to Saint Thomas of Canterbury—takes us geographically away from the Italian peninsula, across the Alps, and further north to the British Isles. In terms of time, we return to the 12th century. Thomas Becket was Archbishop of Canterbury and, in the conflict between the Church and the Crown (King Henry II), a "martyr of canon law and ecclesiastical freedom," as Pope Alexander III put it on the occasion of his canonization (1173, just three years after Thomas's violent death). His feast day in the calendar of saints is December 29th.

First Castle encountered during the return, the Catello di Panocchia. The castle, whose history is almost unknown, was probably built between the end of the 15th and the beginning of the 16th century at the behest of the Cantelli counts, feudal lords of Panocchia and already owners of a building in the village at least since 1422. Following the death in 1736 of the last count Paolo Cantelli, the building was inherited by the marquis Alfonso Bevilacqua, his great-nephew, who added his great-uncle's surname to his own. The structure, modified several times, became the summer residence of the family, who hosted various illustrious people there, including the poet Carlo Innocenzo Frugoni, who remembered the stay in one of his compositions. In 1974 it was bought by the brothers of the Piacenza Nicelli family, who later passed it on to their descendants.[

There are many dirt roads that run along the Enza river

Following the route you pass two very similar ones marked CAI... very beautiful to pass by by bike

Romanesque church. In 1230 the Gattatico chapel was located under the Parish Church of Sant'Eulalia di Sant'Ilario. In 1628 it passed under the Vicariate of Castelnovo di Sotto and in 1691 it came under the control of the Vicariate of Sant'Ilario. In 1841 the church was subject to the Parish Church of Sorbolo and then, in 1853, it passed to the Diocese of Reggio Emilia. The parish church, dedicated to St. Thomas of Canterbury, is of Romanesque origin but has undergone many transformations over the centuries. The original entrance was located to the east where the choir and presbytery are currently located. The building preserves the relief image of an angel on a brick dating back to the 11th-12th century. The façade, liturgically oriented, presents fifteenth-century features with a double flight of blind arches in the eaves frame. The archivolted portal is surmounted by a large niche on semi-columns. The construction of the bell tower, with a cell with pointed single-lancet windows and a cuspidate roof, dates back to 1882.

More than an oasis, it is a sport fishing lake. In any case, the whole Enza path from Montecchio to Ciano is worth it, except for having to find yourself stuck on some narrow roads that have been worked on or have become private property!

Villa Levi is one of the most singular villas in the Reggio countryside, characterized by the presence of the imposing metal dome and the giant colonnade on the southern front. Born as a summer residence probably around the first half of the 1600s but significantly remodeled between 1790 and 1810 commissioned by the Besenzis, the first owners. It was the architect Domenico Marchelli who took care of the renovation, introducing the tympanum which slightly overhangs the building. The arrangement of the vast "Italian-style" garden and the construction of the two service buildings, which served as the caretaker's house and stable, can also be traced back to the architect Marchelli. In the 1830s the architect Luigi Poletti added the dome supported by a giant circular colonnade and worked on the "new" south façade, with the creation of a colonnaded pronaos and a monumental staircase that connects the ground level to the main floor. The villa today has therefore acquired an imprint that refers to Palladian influences. The villa passed to the Levi family in 1874; The interior decorations in Art Nouveau style date back to the early 1900s. It was then acquired by the Pelosis in 1956 and by the University of Bologna in 1971, which used it as the location for the Animal Production Sciences course. In the mid-80s the University created a floor in the attic, where offices and laboratories were built. Today the villa is owned by the University of Bologna, which has only maintained laboratory activities and the management of the agricultural company. It is made available to Coviolo citizens' associations for the organization of events, such as Covioloinfesta. Source FAI environment fund.