Torrechiara: the Castle of Love with Its Gilded Frescoed Chamber

A castle built for love

Some castles are built for war and some for power. Torrechiara was built for love. The story deserves a chivalric novel: in the mid-fifteenth century, Count Pier Maria Rossi, lord of Parma, had this fortress raised on the hills of the Val Parma not to defend against enemies, but to dedicate it to the woman he loved, Bianca Pellegrini. And to immortalise that feeling, he commissioned the painter Benedetto Bembo to create a cycle of frescoes that transformed a room in the castle into the Camera d'Oro — one of the most precious and least-known jewels of the Italian Renaissance.

Torrechiara appears suddenly around a bend in the road that climbs from Langhirano, and the visual impact is powerful: four corner towers, mighty walls, Ghibelline battlements, and below the castle a borgo of stone houses that seems unchanged in five centuries. It is an image from a fairytale, yet it is real, tangible, and above all visitable in a quiet that the great tourist attractions cannot offer.

The Camera d'Oro and Bembo's frescoes

The heart of the castle is the Camera d'Oro, so named for the gold leaf that originally covered the background of the frescoes. Benedetto Bembo painted here, between 1462 and 1464, an allegorical cycle that tells the journey of Bianca Pellegrini through the castles of Count Rossi, rendered with topographical precision against backdrops of Emilian landscapes still recognisable today. The figures are elegant and refined, the colours vivid despite the centuries, and the iconographic programme weaves chivalric, mythological and sentimental references into an interplay that scholars have yet to fully decipher.

But you need not be an art historian to be enchanted: simply raise your gaze and let the beauty of these images wash over you as they speak of love with Renaissance grace. The grotesques, garlands of fruit and flowers, and the minutely rendered landscapes are of a quality that rivals the most celebrated pictorial cycles of the age.

The castle's rooms

Beyond the Camera d'Oro, the castle offers a route through rooms that illuminate life at a Renaissance court. The Sala dei Giocolieri preserves frescoes with scenes of entertainment and music. The Sala degli Stemmi displays the emblems of the families who have successively owned the castle. The inner courtyard, with its well and loggia, is a perfect example of fortified architecture opening itself to civic life.

The walkways along the walls offer a panoramic stroll that alone is worth the visit. From here the gaze takes in the entire Val Parma: hills planted with vines and olive trees, fields of alfalfa, scattered farmhouses where the Parmigiano Reggiano of the hills is produced. On the clearest days you can make out the silhouette of the Apennines and, to the north, the plain dissolving into infinity.

The borgo at the foot of the castle

The small borgo of Torrechiara gathers at the foot of the castle walls like a child sheltering by a parent. A handful of stone houses, a parish church, a restaurant with a terrace looking out over the valley: everything here is on a human scale, intimate and welcoming. The borgo is the ideal starting point for walks in the surrounding hills, along trails that thread through Malvasia vineyards and flowering meadows.

A few kilometres away lies Langhirano, the capital of Parma prosciutto, where the curing facilities open their windows to let in the valley air that gives the prosciutto its unique flavour. A visit to a prosciuttificio is a sensory experience that perfectly completes a cultural day at the castle.

The flavours of the Val Parma

The cuisine of Torrechiara is Parmense cooking in its purest expression. Tortelli d'erbetta — large squares of pasta filled with ricotta and chard, dressed with melted butter and Parmigiano — are the dish you cannot miss. Anolino in broth, a small pasta shell filled with braised meat and Parmigiano, is the festive first course.

The Parmigiano Reggiano of the hills, aged at least 24 months, has a more intense and complex flavour than the plain-grown variety. Malvasia di Parma — an aromatic, lightly sparkling white wine — is the perfect companion for the tortelli and cured meats. The spalla cotta, less famous than the prosciutto but equally delicious, is the specialty of the local trattorias.

- Tortelli d'erbetta — Parma's emblematic dish, with butter and Parmigiano

- Langhirano prosciutto di Parma — cured with the air of the Val Parma

- Malvasia di Parma — aromatic sparkling white, perfect with cured meats

- Hill Parmigiano Reggiano — more intense, aged at least 24 months

How to get there and when to visit

Torrechiara lies about 18 kilometres from Parma, easily reached by car through Langhirano. From Parma you can also take a TEP bus (the Langhirano line, with a short onward connection to Torrechiara). The castle is open year-round with variable hours; it is advisable to check before your visit. Parking is available at the base of the borgo.

The best months are spring and autumn. From April to June the hills are a deep green mosaic and the Malvasia vines are beginning to bud. September and October bring the harvest, autumn foliage and ideal temperatures for walking. In summer the castle hosts evening concerts and performances in the inner courtyard — an atmospheric experience under the stars.

The castle lends itself perfectly to a half-day trip from Parma, combined with lunch in Langhirano and a stop at a dairy to watch the production of Parmigiano. For those wishing to explore further, the castles of the Duchy of Parma and Piacenza offer a touring circuit that includes Fontanellato, Colorno and the Reggia di Colorno.