What is Fontanellato known for?

The 1524 fresco of Diana and Actaeon, painted in the Rocca Sanvitale when the artist was twenty, one of his earliest mature works. Thirteenth-century fortress with four corner towers and a moat still filled with water, accessible by drawbridge from the piazza. Largest bamboo labyrinth in the world, eight hectares, designed by Franco Maria Ricci and opened in 2015 at the frazione of Masone.

Where is Fontanellato?

Fontanellato is a comune in the province of Parma, Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, about 22 kilometers from Parma.

Emilia-Romagna · Parma

Fontanellato

A Parma-plain town built around the Rocca Sanvitale, the moated fortress with Parmigianino's 1524 fresco of Diana and Actaeon.

22 km / 14 mi

Nearest hub (Parma)

7,053

Population

Apr–Jun, Sep–Oct

Best time to visit

Recognised as

Why come

Fontanellato sitson the Parma plain, twenty kilometers northwest of Parma toward Piacenza. The Rocca Sanvitale dominates the central piazza: square plan, four corner towers (three cylindrical, one square), still surrounded by a moat fed by an old resurgence and crossed by a drawbridge. Construction began in the thirteenth century and continued through the fifteenth; the Sanvitale family held the manor for seven hundred years until Count Giovanni sold it to the municipality in 1948. In 1524 Galeazzo Sanvitale commissioned the twenty-year-old Parmigianino to fresco a small vaulted ground-floor room with the myth of Diana and Actaeon. The mirror with the inscription respice finem hangs at the center of the vault. Fontanellato carries Borghi più belli, Bandiera Arancione, and Cittaslow recognition. The Labirinto della Masone, the world's largest bamboo labyrinth designed by Franco Maria Ricci, lies three kilometers north at Fontanellato's frazione of Masone.

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Gallery

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Known for

Rocca Sanvitale
Moated fortress on Piazza Matteotti, begun in the thirteenth century, with four corner towers and a drawbridge over a water-filled moat.
Saletta di Diana e Atteone
Small vaulted ground-floor room of the Rocca, frescoed by Parmigianino in 1524 with the myth of Diana and Actaeon and a central round mirror.
Labirinto della Masone
Eight-hectare bamboo labyrinth at the frazione of Masone, designed by Franco Maria Ricci and opened in 2015, with a star-shaped central plaza.
Santuario della Beata Vergine del Santo Rosario
Sanctuary on the western edge of the centro, built from 1641 to mark a Marian apparition, with a venerated wooden image of the Madonna.
Piazza Matteotti
Central square ringed by the Rocca, the municipal palace, and the porticos lined with cafés and salumi shops.

When to visit

Best months · Apr–Jun, Sep–Oct

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

April through June and September through October are the working months on the Parma plain. Spring brings green wheat fields around the Rocca and clear water in the moat; autumn dries the fields gold and brings the parmigiano and culatello shops back to their winter rhythm. July and August touch thirty-six degrees with high humidity, and the piazza empties between two and five. Po-valley fog sits over Fontanellato most mornings from November to February, with the Rocca rising out of it on cold days. The Sagra dell'Anolino in early September and the autumn truffle market are the events that fill the piazza. Mid-week stays in May and October give the Parmigianino fresco room without the queue.