Emilia-Romagna
Day-hikers can scale Pietra di Bismantova (1047m), a stark limestone outcrop visible for miles around that's popular with climbers and weekend walkers. The Italian Alpine Club has carved a 5km loop up and back from Piazzale Dante (the parking lot in front of Foresteria San Benedetto), about 4km south of Castelnovo ne' Monti.
The striking mountain was alluded to as a stepping-stone to purgatory in Dante Aligheri's Divine Comedy.
26.75 MILES
Overshadowing even the cathedral, the octagonal pink-marble baptistery on the south side of the piazza is one of the most important such structures in…
23.53 MILES
Each year, hundreds of thousands of petrolheads make the pilgrimage to this museum in Maranello, Ferrari's home town. They come here to obsess over the…
26.76 MILES
Another daring Romanesque beauty? Well, yes and no. Consecrated in 1106, Parma has a classic Lombard-Romanesque facade, but inside, the gilded pulpit and…
29.83 MILES
Modena's celebrated duomo combines the austerity of the Dark Ages with throwback traditions from the Romans in a style known as Romanesque. The church…
26.91 MILES
The Galleria Nazionale displays Parma’s main art collection in dark and ambiently affective environs. Alongside works by local artists Correggio and…
26.54 MILES
Head up the mountain to this dusty, truck-busy cava de marmo (marble quarry), through a dramatic series of tunnels used by trains to transport marble from…
17.59 MILES
Magnifico Pier Maria Rossi's impressive Torrechiara Castle is one of the most important examples of Italian castle architecture and is considered one of…
26.94 MILES
Looming over the manicured lawns and modern fountains of Piazza della Pace, this monumental palace is hard to miss. Supposedly named after the Spanish…
1. Parco Nazionale dell' Appennino Tosco-Emiliano
5.98 MILES
Established in 2001 and made a Unesco Man and Biosphere Reserve in 2015, this 260-sq-km parcel of land straddles the border between Tuscany and Emilia…
16.28 MILES
Visit this lovely ethnographic museum, in San Pellegrino's former hospital, to learn just how little traditional mountain life has changed over the…
17.59 MILES
Magnifico Pier Maria Rossi's impressive Torrechiara Castle is one of the most important examples of Italian castle architecture and is considered one of…
4. Chiesa Abbaziale dei Santi Pietro e Paolo
21.42 MILES
Castelnuovo's small duomo (cathedral) was rebuilt in the 15th century on the ruins of an 11th-century Romanesque church. Its baroque interior safeguards a…
21.99 MILES
Just off main square, this small museum is a memorial to Reggio's proud role as birthplace of the Italian tricolour flag. At a meeting in the multi-tiered…
6. Basilica della Beata Vergine della Ghiara
22.01 MILES
Reggio's most important church was built in 1596 to honour the miracle of a deaf and blind boy named Marchino who regained his voice and hearing after…
22.03 MILES
Reggio's 13th-century cathedral was first built in Romanesque style but was given a comprehensive makeover 300 years later. Nowadays, virtually all that…
22.16 MILES
The town's main art gallery holds some worthwhile Italian, Flemish and Spanish paintings, as well as a heterogeneous collection of costumes, arms,…