Parco dei Boschi di Carrega
Sala Baganza Fortress
The place name "Sala" (indicating in Longobard a noble residence) was used for the first time in 995, while "Baganza" was added according to a Royal decree of 5th October 1862. We know something about a "castellum de Sala" in 1254 when Teseo or Tedisio Sanvitale, thanks to the marriage with Adelmota Cornazani became the landlord. In 1477 Gilberto III Sanvitale obtained from the Duke of Milan Gian Galeazzo Sforza the authorization to enlarge its "palatium" and transformed it into a four-sided strong-hold defended by a large ditch. Gilberto IV, Barbara Sanseverino's husband, between 1564 and 1578 entrusted the decoration of the western stretch of the noble floor with Aenea's history, the triumph of the Cross, Caesars' portraits, and the labors of Hercules. Passed to the Farnese family in 1612, the Rocca di Sala was chosen in 1723 as the residence of Antonio Farnese who entrusted Sebastiano Galeotti with the frescoes with mythological-allegorical subjects. With the arrival of the Napoleonic French the Rocca and the estates around it were given to Michele Varron who in 1823 demolishes the southern, eastern, and western wings, giving the Rocca its current aspect. The ownership will pass then to the Carrega, Magnani, Romani and finally (1987) in part to the Municipality of Sala Baganza. Inside the Rocca there is an Oratory, a neoclassical single-arc temple set in the north-western end of the building. It was built, according to the project by the Architect Luigi Feneulle, between 1793 and 1795, according to the will of the Duke Ferdinando di Borbone. The short distance between the Park and the Center of Sala Baganza, where the Rocca lies, suggests to visit both of them.
Province: Parma Region: Emilia-Romagna
