Luogo - Monument
Castello di Torrechiara
Where
Via al Castello 1, Langhirano (Parma)
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Torrechiara Castle is one of the most famous amongst the fortresses that
were part of the feud of the estate of Pier Maria Rossi, Count of San
Secondo and a great leader, who made renovations in the fifteenth
century. At the end of his military activities, he retired here with
Bianca Pellegrini of Como, who for his sake, had left her husband,
Melchior d'Arluno. Pier Maria Rossi wanted to show testimony of the love
in their relationship and in 1452 it seems he probably asked the
painter Benedetto Bembo to decorate the fresco of the 'Gold Room', a tale of courtly love and chivalry, recounting the story of Pier Maria
Rossi's passion for Bianca Pellegrini. The two lovers are represented as
being struck by the arrows of a Blindfolded Cupid, while in the
painting Bianca appears dressed in white as a pilgrim and following a
path which touches all the castles of Pier Maria. Torrechiara,
rectangular shaped, with three surrounding walls and corner towers,
machicolations, and a large courtyard, was subject to various extensions
and restorations in the seventeenth century, and the wide panoramic
balconies opened to the side of the valley. The room on the second floor
of the North-East side of the building is decorated with grotesques
by Cesare Baglione.
