A stay discovering Piacenza
For your free time the choice is really endless: the prestigious Golf Country Club of Croara just a few km away, the many extraordinarily well preserved castles of the Piacenza valleys and the extremely extensive choices of wine & food itineraries, the great cultural wealth of the city with its ancient palazzos, the Farnese Museum, the art gallery, historical churches, the exquisite Municipal Theatre and, not least, the streets for shopping excursions.
Not to be missed
The city is full of major historical sights, many of which are concentrated in the zone of the central square, Piazza dei Cavalli, like the 13th-century Palazzo Gotico, a building with a Romanic base later redeveloped in Gothic style, which can be considered one of the most important examples of mediaeval architecture.
Also nearby are the Governor’s Palace (Palazzo del Governatore), an 18th-century building in neoclassical style, the 17-th century Merchants’ Palace (Palazzo dei Mercanti)and the 12th-century Church of St. Francis.
Major attractions are the Palazzo Farnese, the Civic Museum, which houses the “Virgin Adoring the Child” by Botticelli, and the Cathedral (= Duomo), a fine example of Romano-Gothic architecture with decorations by the sculptor Wiligelmo.
The Cathedral is flanked by a bell tower housing the statue of an angel in gilded copper, the symbol of the city of Piacenza.
Also worth a visit are the Churches of St. Savino and St. Antonino, the patron saint of Piacenza. The latter is set alongside a baptistery that over the centuries has been made into a bell tower.
There are numerous aristocratic mansions: Palazzo Chiapponi-Scotti, Palazzo Lucca Manfredi, Palazzo Marazzi Visconti of the late 16th century, and Palazzo Zanardi Landi to name just a few.