Emilia, along the River Panaro: the Vignola Fortress

Hello, my friends! Welcome in My Own Italy to discover Italy with my personal touch!

Today our travel is to Emilia Romagna and we're going to walk along the valley of the River Panaro, in the province of Modena: I suggest you to visit to the Vignola Fortress.

The Vignola Fortress is a military fortress that dominates the valley of the River Panaro.

The imposing structure of the Fortress is visible in the distance. It looks like a mighty quadrangle, the final product of many phases of construction, which have transformed it from Roccaforte to imposing noble mansion. 

  The name "Vignola" comes from the Latin "vineola", which means "little vine" and today the the grapevine appears in the banner of the city. Until the early years of the fifteenth century the building was used for military functions; in 1401 the noble of Ferrara Uguccione Contrari received the feud Vignola as a gift from the lord of Ferrara Nicolò III d'Este. 

During the two following decades the Fortress profoundly changed its function, becoming the sumptuous home richly frescoed of the Family Contrari, accustomed to the comforts and magnificence of the court of Ferrara. 

This dynasty died out in 1577, the Fortress passed to the Boncompagni, who entrusted the administration of the fief to a governor, visiting Vignola sporadically. The Fortress, built of limestone, commonly called "tuff" overlooking the river, is today on five floors, from the basement, where there are the rooms of Grassoni and Contrari, to the walkways.
Regarding the halls and their function, the ground floor is open to the those engaged public events and official moments of the court life: banquets, parties, music, theater, administration of justice.
 

 

The first floor was dedicated to the private apartments of the ladies and lords and to their guests. At the top level there are the rooms probably used as the servants' quarters and  troops stationed at the fortress, but also there were the service areas, so essential in a building of this size. 

During the nineteenth century the political and social institutions in Vignola have found their headquarters inside the building: The Town Hall, the Library, and the Cassa di Risparmio di Vignola, which acquired the property in 1965.



 

 

In the end, Vignola is a must-see destination for your holiday in Italy to discover the italian villages.


Leisure with me, this is my tourism! 

Turin: the aristocratic elegance of the Villa della Regina

Hello my friends, welcome to My Own Italy to Discover Italy with my personal touch!
Today we are in Turin, to travel to Piedmont  Region, and my suggestion is to visit the Villa della Regina, recently opened after a long period of restoration.
 

 
 The Villa della Regina  is a villa of the sixteenth century situated on the hill of Turin, is part of the Savoy  Residences in Piedmont.



 




The Villa gets the name of "Villa of the Queen" because it was the favorite residence of two spouses of The King of Sardinia, Anna Maria of Orléans and Maria Antonia Ferdinanda of Spain.

 The ducal residence constituted a model for the "vines" and the villas of the aristocracy and the bourgeoisie. The Villa, in the center of Italian gardens, spread to the main floor from the great central hall.
 The structure of Villa della Regina is typically a famous sixteenth-century Italian garden with an amphitheater in the back. When you come to the driveway, you face the front of the square-elliptical terrace. The gardens have fountains and pavilions, the crowning of the garden there is a large forest.

 The enteriors of Villa della Regina are sumptuous, the hall leads to the Royal Apartments richly decorated, in which is placed in an exemplary way the eighteenth century taste for "chinoiserie"!
Abandoned after the exile of Savoy and hit by Allied bombing during World War II, the Villa has experienced as a result of 50 years of total degradation.

Today, after an important restoration, the villa has been reopened to the public.

 The upper floors will house the Regional Centre for Documentation and Cataloguing Cultural Heritage.

The Villa della Regina, in my opinion, is  extraordinary beautiful. 
Certainly a must-see destination in your holiday in Italy to visit the Cities of Art.
 
Leisure me: this is my tourism!