FROM REGGIO EMILIA TO ROLO
partenza da Reggio Emilia
Leave Reggio Emilia, heading north-west, and by-pass Mancasale. After 8 km, you reach Bagnolo in Piano, ruled by the Gonzaga family of Novellara from 1335 to 1728, then by the Este family, in whose fortunes the town was closely involved. The main square is dominated by the imposing tower, the only remaining part of the castle built by the Gonzaga family in the first half of the 14th century and demolished in the 18th. Of particular interest is also the recently restored late-16th-century parish church overlooking the square and its annexed convent, demolished and subsequently rebuilt in 1794. The artworks inside the church include a "Presentation" by Lelio Orsi and a "Madonna and Saints" from the school of the painter Correggio.
Two kilometres further from Bagnolo, slightly to the right of the main road, you reach the church of Pieve Rossa, a remarkable example of 11th- to12th-century Romanesque architecture, restored in the 13th century. The interior has a distinctive irregular layout with one nave and two aisles, resting on brick terracotta columns and 13th-century architectural structures.
By-passing the village of San Tommaso della Fossa and its church, you reach the village of Santa Maria della Fossa (also known as Vezzola), where a characteristic masked procession is held every year on the first Sunday of March. The parish church contains a painting of Saint Matthew by a pupil of Lelio Orsi.
At a distance of fifteen kilometres from Reggio Emilia, you reach the village of San Giovanni della Fossa. Only the apse remains of the village parish church, once decorated with important Romanesque-Byzantine frescoes that were pulled away and are now conserved in the museum in Novellara.
Approximately two kilometres further (17km from Reggio Emilia) on the left, is the Casino di Sopra residence whose façade immediately stands out with its imposing central tower and the two smaller angular towers. The villa was built by the Gonzaga family in the mid-16th century, and was frescoed by Lelio Orsi, born in Novellara and one of the most original painters of the Italian mannerist school. The series of frescoes is now housed in the museum of Novellara.
The town of Novellara (19 km from Reggio Emilia), the crossroads of the low-lying plains, once belonged to the estate of Matilda of Canossa. Subsequently it was ruled in turn by the Bishops of Reggio Emilia, the Malapresa family, the Municipality of Reggio Emilia, and finally, between 1335 and 1728, by the Gonzaga family of Novellara. Once that family died out, the town became ruled by the house of Este. Building of the Rocca (castle), now the symbol of the town, started in the 14th century, continued through the 15th century, and was completed in the 16th century. It currently houses a number of municipal offices and two museums, the Museo della Civiltà Contadina (Museum of Rural Civilisation) and the Gonzaga Museum. In addition to the series of frescoes from the church of San Giovanni and the Casino di Sopra mentioned above, the museum also holds important paintings, objects, and coins related to the Gonzagas, as well as a collection of pharmacy vases, almost unique in its kind, containing over 130 pieces from Faenza, Liguria and Venice. The collection was once the property of the Jesuit fathers and later of the Municipality of Novellara. All the museum collections are displayed in rooms embellished with painted coffered ceilings, frescoed fascia strips painted by Lelio Orsi, and 16th-century fireplaces in red Verona marble.
The main square is dominated by the imposing parish church of Santo Stefano (St. Stephen's), erected in 1567 on a design by Lelio Orsi, extended in the 18th century to include side chapels on the front part of the church. Inside the church, you can admire several valuable paintings, including "The Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence", by a pupil of Lelio Orsi (containing some details painted by the master himself), "The Ascension" by P. M. Bagnatori, a painting of St. Jerome by Gennari, an "Ecce Homo" from the school of Guercino, and a "Supper of the Apostles" that is very close to the school of Rubens. The Treasury of the parish church contains a valuable display of sacred objects, including 16th-century wall ornaments and liturgical vestments, chalices that belonged to the Gonzaga family, and two valuable ceramic plates depicting "Benjamin and the Pharaoh's Cup" (from the school of Urbino) and the "Slaughter of the Innocents" (from the Casteldurante workshop).
Of considerable interest is the Jesuit monastery built in 1570, located on the left of the main tree-lined avenue going into Novellara. The monastery has been substantially remodelled but its original structures can still be made out, particularly the 17th-century chapel of the Servites of Mary and the 18th-century building of the Beata Vergine del Popolo, designed by Mattioli with a characteristic layout similar to a Greek cross plan.
The urban plan that changed the layout of Novellara in the 16th century is still visible in the street network of the town centre, while the older features can be seen in the area immediately in front of the Castle. Leaving Novellara in the direction of Guastalla, on the right, you can see the elegant construction of the Casino di Sotto, the summer residence of the Gonzaga family built at the beginning of the 16th century.
Turning eastward at the crossroads in the direction of Reggiolo and Campagnola Emilia, you reach the Sanctuary of the Beata Vergine della Fossetta, constructed in the second half of the 17th century by the architect G. B. Negri from Bologna. The building bears a resemblance to the Church of Jesus in Bologna, although additions to it were made right up to the 19th century. It is one of the most important Marian sanctuaries and the cult of the Beata Vergine della Fossetta is particularly alive also in the neighbouring areas.
At approximately three kilometres from Novellara is the town of Campagnola Emilia, once under the episcopate of Reggio Emilia, later ruled by the da Coreggio family, and finally by the House of Este. The main square is very spectacular, enclosed on one side by the parish church and on the other by Villa Guidi-Cottafavi. The nearby church of Sant'Andrea has fine 16th-century frescoes. Travelling in the direction of Correggio, you reach the Casino Cesis residence, already known as far back as the 15th century, although its current aspect is the result of major remodelling works carried out in the 16th century.
Continuing the tour, 28 km from Reggio Emilia, you reach the town of Fabbrico that was once under the ancient feudal estate of the da Correggio family (from the 14th to the17th century). In the area where the old castle used to be, where some of the original bastions can still be seen, is Palazzo Guidotti (on the northern and oldest part, there are still traces of the original castle) and the parish church, erected in the late 17th century (between 1685 and 1688) by the architect Beltrami. The Baroque interior contains valuable choir-stalls in carved wood made by the Malalguzzi carpenters from Carpi in 1725, and "paliotto" altar-frontals in fine 18th-century polychrome scagliola. The art of making altar-frontals, once a strong tradition in the Po valley area, has now totally disappeared.
Five kilometres beyond Fabbrico (32.5 km from Reggio Emilia) is Rolo, an ancient centre known as far back as 772, that was part of the feudal estate of a branch of the Sessi family until 1776. The parish church contains a painting of "Madonna and San Giovannino", attributed with some reservation to a painter from Tuscany and dated to the mid-16th century. Local craftsmen continue to keep alive the traditional art of making carved wooden furniture which has given rise to the term "mobile rolino" (furniture from Rolo), known and appreciated throughout Europe.