Railway Station
Parma - Suzzara
Parma - Chiozzola - Sorbolo - Lentigione - Brescello - Boretto - Pieve Saliceto - Gualtieri - Guastalla - Tagliata - Luzzara - Codisotto - Suzzara
800 198 637 - Information about trains
840 00 216 - Information about urban and suburban buses: call center Seta www.setaweb.it
The service is active Monday-Saturday from 07:00 a.m. to 07:00 p.m.; Sunday from 08:20 a.m. to 05:00 p.m.
Navigations with lunches and dinners aboard, private events 0039 335 5293930 - Claudia Rossi
ilnuovoviaggiatore@gmail.com
The Stradivari Motorboat is equipped with a restaurant offering theme menus with tasting of valuable wines, typical dishes of the Po River plain area. It is also equipped with all modern comforts: radiotelephone, air-conditioning, heating, stereo and piano.
By car
From Reggio Emilia: 30 kilometres along the Provincial Road 358.
From the Milan-Bologna A1 Motorway: leave the motorway at the Reggio Emilia exit and follow road signs to Castelnovo di Sotto for 30 kilometres.
From the Modena-Brennero A22 Motorway: leave the motorway at the Reggiolo exit and follow road signs to Guastalla for 25 kilometres.
By train
From Reggio Emilia: TPER local train service from Reggio Emilia to Guastalla.
By bus
From Reggio Emilia, Piazzale Europa: public transport service, bus No. 93 from Reggio Emilia to Boretto.
Boretto Tourist Port
]]> Timetable of extra-urban routes
Transport service
840 000 216 - Contact Center Seta (Monday-Saturday from 07:00 a.m. to 07:00 p.m.; Sunday from 09:00 a.m. to 05:00 p.m., closed on weekday holidays) 840 151 152 - Railway Call Center
Tickets can also be purchased in the tobacconist shops (tabaccheria).
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Opening times
Always open (compulsory reservation)
Boretto
By car
From Reggio Emilia: 30 kilometres along the Provincial Road 358
From the A1 Milan to Bologna motorway: leave the motorway at the Reggio Emilia exit and follow signs to Castelnuovo Sotto for 30 kilometers
From the A22 Modena to Brennero Motorway: leave the motorway at the Reggiolo exit and follow signs to Guastalla for 25 kilometers
By train
From Reggio Emilia, local train service from Reggio Emilia to Guastalla
State railway service on the Parma Suzzara line
By bus
From Reggio Emilia Seta service from Reggio Emilia to Boretto with branch service to Viadana (Mantua)
From Viadana take the coach service running between Mantua and Parma
By river
From Mantua - at the “Laghi” dock
From Cremona: from the “Porto Fluviale” (River port)
Port
This tourist centre and that of the coast together respond to the increasing number of requests for river navigation, which in Boretto is particularly strong given its position on the Parma-Mantua and the Boretto-Guastalla-Reggio Emilia railway lines and on State Road 62 from the Passo della Cisa. The port in Boretto, on the right bank of the Po River, is situated directly on a navigable canal under the lee of the main embankment on which runs State Road 62, which divides the town in half. For this reason, and because of its well-equipped marina, Boretto is today a berth and a landing stage for passengers of the big riverboats like the motor-ships Venezia and Michelangelo and other day-cruise boats along the river. Various boats provide tourist service at the port of Boretto, including the historic “Amico del Po,” run by a private company, as well as motor-boats and houseboats of a tour operator located in Boretto.
The entire area of the Po Lido [beach, shore] overlooking the docks is open to the public. Ground services are available in this 400-metre area divided into three mooring zones and with a floating dock for motorboats of up to a gross tonnage of 1000 tonnes.
The Lido offers to both tourists and recreational visitors a variety of services, making the tourist port of Boretto well known throughout the entire area for its high-quality gastronomic and cultural proposals.
Tourists will find a number of sightseeing activities, including a visit to the Museo del Po, the Museo dei Pontieri (privately owned), the Basilica Minore di San Marco, and the art nouveau “Marcello Nizzoli” council hall. Among the main events that take place at the Lido Po are the Sagra del Po, the Po Festival, and the exhibit-market Terra Nostra during the September fair (Fiera Settembrina). Due to the numerous requests for mooring, the Local Councilof Boretto plans to enlarge port facilities, meet quality standards, and open a new mooring area with the possibility of providing drinkable water and electricity directly to the moorings.
Boretto
By car
From Reggio Emilia: 30 kilometres along the Provincial Road 358
From the A1 Milan to Bologna motorway: leave the motorway at the Reggio Emilia exit and follow signs to Castelnuovo Sotto for 30 kilometers.
From the A22 Modena to Brennero Motorway: leave the motorway at the Reggiolo exit and follow signs to Guastalla for 25 kilometers.
By train
From Reggio Emilia: “Tper” local train service from Reggio Emilia to Guastalla.
State railway service on the Parma Suzzara line.
By coach
From Reggio Emilia: Seta service from Reggio Emilia to Boretto with branch service to Viadana (Mantua).
From Viadana: take the coach service running between Mantua and Parma.
By river
From Mantua: at the “Laghi” dock.
From Cremona: from the “Porto Fluviale” (River port)
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Here are the maps of the 32 Municipalities of the local editorial staff of Reggio Emilia:
Reggio nell'Emilia
Albinea
Bagnolo in Piano
Bibbiano
Boretto
Brescello
Cadelbosco Sopra
Campagnola Emilia
Campegine
Casalgrande
Castellarano
Castelnovo Sotto
Cavriago
Correggio
Fabbrico
Gattatico
Gualtieri
Guastalla
Luzzara
Montecchio Emilia
Novellara
Poviglio
Quattro Castella
Reggiolo
Rio Saliceto
Rolo
Rubiera
San Martino in Rio
San Polo d'Enza
Sant'Ilario d'Enza
Scandiano
Vezzano sul Crostolo
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Altitude: 23 m
Inhabitants: 5.236 (updated to August 31, 2023)
Post code: 42022
Weekly market day: Thursday
Patron Saint: San Marco Evangelista (April 25)
Hamlets: Santa Croce, San Rocco
0039 0522 963724 - Public Relation office of the town hall
Town Hall of Boretto
Boretto
By car
From Reggio Emilia: 30 kilometres along the Provincial Road 358
From the A1 Milan to Bologna motorway: leave the motorway at the Reggio Emilia exit and follow signs to Castelnuovo Sotto for 30 kilometers.
From the A22 Modena to Brennero Motorway: leave the motorway at the Reggiolo exit and follow signs to Guastalla for 25 kilometers.
By train
From Reggio Emilia: Tper local train service from Reggio Emilia to Guastalla.
State railway service on the Parma-Suzzara line.
By coach
From Reggio Emilia: public transport service bus No. 93 from Reggio Emilia to Boretto with branch service to Viadana (Mantua).
From Viadana: take the coach service running between Mantua and Parma.
By river
From Mantua: at the “Laghi” dock.
From Cremona: from the “Porto Fluviale” (River port)
Boretto is a riverside centre on the banks of the River Po, 28 km from Reggio Emilia.
It was important in Roman times and still today has an equipped marina and regional river tourist port. Tourist motorboats set off from Boretto to view the landscape and the profiles of the historic centres passed along the river.
The best periods for cruises and navigation are certainly spring and September, combined with guided visits to the “small capitals of the Po”.
Boretto is a river-side community only separated from the Po by the main flood embankment.
The historic centre of the town is indeed, right up against the embankment of this great river, with the mighty Basilica of San Marco l’Evangelista (St Mark the Evangelist).
The Basilica towers over the whole town as if defending it against the eternal “enemy” lurking just beyond the embankment erected immediately behind the Church itself.
As a result of its special geographical position and its history, the centre of Boretto is perhaps one of the most subject to the river’s influence than any of the other towns along the Po.
Its position coincides with a wide curve in the river, with a view over the solemn and impressive landscape unrivalled almost anywhere else along its course.
The area has been inhabited by Gauls, Celts, Romans and Venetians.
There is some dispute as to the origin and etymology of the name.
It could be derived from “beruptum” (the broken Po) or “deruptum” (the route of the Po).
In Roman times, Boretto was part of the Brescello fortified camp.
The archaeological finds made in the area demonstrate the wealth and luxury enjoyed by the area, characteristics which can also be deduced from the discovery of villas and tombs.
The remains of a funerary stele or slab is preserved at the town’s middle school, while the most significant find, the Concordi tomb, has been moved to the Public Gardens in Reggio Emilia.
The Venetians, whose influence increased from the 12th century onwards, built a church dedicated to St Mark in Boretto.
The distinctive character of its people and their access to considerable economic wealth has given Boretto a role of some importance and autonomy from Brescello from 1859.
The town is separated from the Po River only by the main embankment, behind which is the town centre, where the imposing Basilica Minore di San Marco Evangelista stands out, attesting Boretto’s importance for the Venetians, who used it as a stopping off point on the River Po, for both their conquests and their trade.
The Town Hall, whose Council Chamber is embellished with Art Nouveau decorations by Marcello Nizzoli (the designer of the lettera 22, the iconic Olivetti typewriter from the 1900s), is situated in the same square of San Marco.
A visit to the Museo del Po e della Navigazione (Museum for the Po River and Navigation), the Casa dei Pontieri "D. Gialdini" Museum, and the Museo multimediale della Bonifica (Multimedia Reclamation Museum), the only one of its kind, with sounds and images projected on the walls of a drainage node in the style of the Fascist era (1920s).
The territory of Boretto is also the home of the Borettana onion, which boasts the “De.co” mark (officially making it a traditional local product).
Its adaptability makes it possible to obtain two varieties and two harvests, one in spring and one in autumn, ensuring its presence on the market throughout the year.
The town has an equipped marina and a small tourist and sports port linked to motor boating activities.
In the spring and summer months there is also a river cruise service of varied duration, by request, as far as Mantua.
In 2023 a Big Bench was inaugurated (Big Benches are oversized attractions that are part of the Big Bench Community Project world circuit, located in particularly scenic places, according to the project of the American designer Chris Bangle). The bench is located in the Lido Po area.
The presence of the river permits the practice of various sports: canoa, motor boating, sports fishing.
For cycling lovers, there’s the naturalistic cycle path on the banks of the Po, which runs through the entire “riverside” territory of the Municipality of Boretto, interconnecting the territory of the Municipality of Gualtieri to that of Brescello.
Spring Festival - From April 25 to May 1.
Funfair, stalls, exhibitions.
Idro Gp-the International Motorboat Grand Prix - First half of June
International motorboat races.
PiroPo - Second half of June
Fireworks and musical show with fire magic on the Great River.
September Festival - First weekend of September
Performances, concerts, stalls, tastings of the Borettana onion and local dishes.
Sant’Alberto degli Avvogardi (1149-50, from Bishop of Bobio to Patriarch of Jerusalem),
Mario Nizolio (1488 humanist)
Guido da Boretto (1496 jurist),
Don Angelo Dosi (1827 to 1896 an important figure in religious affairs and Italian unification and politics)
Artimide Zatti (1880 to 1951 Salesian coadjutor, beatified on 14 April 2002)
Marcello Nizzoli (1887 to 1969 painter, engineer, poster designer and pioneer in Italian design)
Pietro Ghizzardi (1906 to 1986 painter).
Via Argine Cisa, 11 - 42022 Boretto
0039 0522 965601
0039 0522 963811
info@infrastrutturefluviali.it Museum for the Po River and Navigation
Museums of Boretto
Mab - Water Museums of Boretto
The Museum is open every Sunday and holiday.
March, April, May, and September:
Museums: 9:30 am - 12:30 pm / 3:30 pm - 6:30 pm
Navigation: 3:30 pm
June, July, and August:
Museums: 10:00 am - 12:00 pm / 4:30 pm - 7:30 pm
Navigation: 4:30 pm
From October to March the museum is open by appointment. +39 335 53 35 139
During the week, museum visits for groups and school groups can be booked using the contact information above.
Boretto
By car
From Reggio Emilia: 30 kilometres along the Provincial Road 358
From the A1 Milan to Bologna motorway: leave the motorway at the Reggio Emilia exit and follow signs to Castelnuovo Sotto for 30 kilometers.
From the A22 Modena to Brennero Motorway: leave the motorway at the Reggiolo exit and follow signs to Guastalla for 25 kilometers.
By train
From Reggio Emilia: TPER local train service from Reggio Emilia to Guastalla.
State railway service on the Parma-Suzzara line.
By bus
From Reggio Emilia: public transport service bus No. 93 from Reggio Emilia to Boretto with branch service to Viadana (Mantua).
From Viadana: take the coach service running between Mantua and Parma.
By river
From Mantua: at the “Laghi” dock.
From Cremona: from the “Porto Fluviale” (River port)
Visiting a museum is like walking through the pages of a great illustrated book. In the case of the Po River Museum, the illustrations are tangible objects such as boats, anchors, signals, winches, rudders, Jacob’s ladders, megaphones, hydraulic models, engines, pumps, canoes, and period motorboats. Listing all the period paraphernalia, from nails to couplings, would be an impossible task. As you enter the museum, you are immediately faced with the view of the Great River itself, as both the landscape and the main player in this story. Under the portico, there are riverboats, a small hunting boat armed with a mounted rifle, and a wheel-boat for land reclaiming operations. The room dedicated to Chiezzi contains records of the great dockyard tradition that has characterised the town of Boretto. In the second room there are collections of technical documentation related to the 650 km course of the river, with hydraulic models from the Po River Magistrate. The navigation room gives information on the dredgers an
d contains objects that give an idea of what living and working was like aboard the great boats that once used to dredge the riverbeds and build river defences. The fourth room illustrates what happens in the deep riverbed, in the world of sand, silt, and archaeology. In the long “Hall of the Genius”, are the collected machines and materials related to the main working areas of the river, from foundries to forges, and from metalwork to wood carpentry. The visit inside the former storehouses ends with a workshop to provide students from schools with the opportunity to carry out manual-creative activities and to attend classes and courses run by specialist staff.
Via Argine Cisa, 62 - 42022 Boretto
0039 0522 443251
info@ilpaesaggiodellabonifica.it Drainage Multimedia Museum
Museums of Boretto
Mab - Water Museums of Boretto
For guided tour:+ 39 348 49 07 180
mbonicelli@emiliacentrale.it
July and August:
Sundays and holidays: 9:30 am - 12:30 pm / 4:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Other days: by appointment
September and October:
Sundays and holidays: 9:30 am - 12:30 pm / 3:30 pm - 6:30 pm
Other days: by appointment
Boretto
By car
From Reggio Emilia: 30 kilometres along the Provincial Road 358
From the A1 Milan to Bologna motorway: leave the motorway at the Reggio Emilia exit and follow signs to Castelnuovo Sotto for 30 kilometers.
From the A22 Modena to Brennero Motorway: leave the motorway at the Reggiolo exit and follow signs to Guastalla for 25 kilometers.
By train
From Reggio Emilia: TPER local train service from Reggio Emilia to Guastalla.
State railway service on the Parma-Suzzara line.
By coach
From Reggio Emilia: public transport service bus No. 93 from Reggio Emilia to Boretto with branch service to Viadana (Mantua).
From Viadana: take the coach service running between Mantua and Parma.
By river
From Mantua: at the “Laghi” dock.
From Cremona: from the “Porto Fluviale” (River port)
The Museum is inside a plant called "chiavica" contains pumps aimed to take water from Po river, to pour it on the surrounding lands. It was biult at the end of the twenties of 1900, and is a typical example of Fascist architecture: impressive-looking and solemn, stands out with its almost 20 meters high structure. upon the wide flatland.
At the Museum begins the long route "The Landscape of Reclamation", a trail for nature, cultural, media and social responsible tourism.
]]> Via Argine, 3 - 42022 Boretto
0039 0522 965002
info@albergodelpo.it Museo Casa dei Pontieri
For guided tours: +39 333 40 12 619
Boretto
By car
From Reggio Emilia: 30 kilometres along the Provincial Road 358
From the A1 Milan to Bologna motorway: leave the motorway at the Reggio Emilia exit and follow signs to Castelnuovo Sotto for 30 kilometers.
From the A22 Modena to Brennero Motorway: leave the motorway at the Reggiolo exit and follow signs to Guastalla for 25 kilometers.
By train
From Reggio Emilia: TPER local train service from Reggio Emilia to Guastalla.
State railway service on the Parma-Suzzara line.
By coach
From Reggio Emilia: public transport service bus No. 93 from Reggio Emilia to Boretto with branch service to Viadana (Mantua).
From Viadana: take the coach service running between Mantua and Parma.
By river
From Mantua: at the “Laghi” dock.
From Cremona: from the “Porto Fluviale” (River port)
In a space that was part of the buildings dedicated to the old boats deck which linked Boretto to Viadana, distroyed in 1967, the son of the last chief officer of the bridge, gathered images and a scale model of the bridge.
]]>Via De Rossi, 27/B - 42022 Boretto +39 340 5072384
info@pietroghizzardi.com
http://www.pietroghizzardi.com/en/
Entrance to the Al Belvedere “Pietro Ghizzardi” House Museum is free and visits are by reservation only, preferably on weekends.
Entry without reservation will only take place if places are available.
Each visit is open to a limited group of visitors.
To book the visit online, send an email to info@pietroghizzardi.com, specifying the day and time of the visit and the number of visitors.
For telephone booking: +39 3405072384 or +39 3429637325, from Monday to Friday from 9.00 to 12.30 and from 14.30 to 18.00; Saturday and Sunday from 10.30am to 6.30pm.
Access to the House Museum is permitted to children under 14 only if accompanied.
Visits by groups of high school students accompanied by a teacher are possible.
Upon request, guided tours can be organized outside normal opening hours to the public for groups of at least 15 people
Free entrance
Boretto
By car
From Reggio Emilia: 30 kilometres along the Provincial Road 358
From the A1 Milan to Bologna motorway: leave the motorway at the Reggio Emilia exit and follow signs to Castelnuovo Sotto for 30 kilometers.
From the A22 Modena to Brennero Motorway: leave the motorway at the Reggiolo exit and follow signs to Guastalla for 25 kilometers.
By train
From Reggio Emilia: TPER local train service from Reggio Emilia to Guastalla.
State railway service on the Parma-Suzzara line.
By coach
From Reggio Emilia: public transport service bus No. 93 from Reggio Emilia to Boretto with branch service to Viadana (Mantua).
From Viadana: take the coach service running between Mantua and Parma.
By river
From Mantua: at the “Laghi” dock.
From Cremona: from the “Porto Fluviale” (River port)
The Museum is located in the house where the artist lived for 10 years. The institution was founded in Boretto (RE) in 1992 thanks of Nives Pecchini Ghizzardi, grandson of the artist.
The "Pietro Ghizzardi" House Museum hosts the largest existing collection of the artist's works, which include paintings, murals, sculptures, engravings, manuscripts of published and unpublished literary works.
It contains various testimonies relating to the life and work of the artist. photographic and video archives, biographic materials, press reviews and the complete collection of the artist catalogs. The “Pietro Ghizzardi” House Museum is the seat of the “Pietro Ghizzardi” Historical Archive, founded in 1978, which oversees the cataloging of the artist's works.
Since August 2015, the "Pietro Ghizzardi" House Museum is a member of the European Outsider Art Association - EOA
In order:
Fresco of The Moses by Pietro Ghizzardi © Casa Museo Pietro Ghizzardi
Bedroom of Mary, mother of Pietro Ghizzardi © Casa Museo Pietro Ghizzardi
Details of a manuscript by Pietro Ghizzardi © Casa Museo Pietro Ghizzardi
Pietro's studio © Casa Museo Pietro Ghizzardi
Piazza San Marco - 42022 Boretto
Phone 0039 0522 964105 or 0522 965454
parrocchiebrescello@gmail.com
Beato Artemide Zatti Pastoral Unity
Everyday from 08:30 a.m. to 07:00 p.m.
See the indication to reach Boretto
Constructed between 1871 and 1883, it is the work of L. Panizzi Moriglo from Boretto and was granted the status of a Basilica on 5 May, 1956. The cupola collapsed in 1988, one hundred and five years to the time, day and month (10.30 p.m. on 7 October) when it was first consecrated and opened to worship. It has now been reconstructed, keeping precisely to the original size externally, yet using modern technology. Inside, the laminated wood used to renovate it is highly visible. It has been suggested that this may be a unique work in Europe and the world, revealing the unprecedented architectural genius of the designers Roberto Alessi and Antonio Raffagli.
]]>Via Fratelli Manfredi - 42022 Boretto
The church is not open to the visit
See the indication to reach Boretto
The plague epidemic of 1630, so vividly described by Alessandro Manzoni in the novel “The Betrothed”, was responsible in this area for as many as twenty-eight deaths in the month of July alone. Victims were buried and registered by Don Giovanni Battista Rivaro, at that times Rector of the Church of San Marco in Boretto. According to the prelate’s manuscript, the number of deaths caused by the plague during the following month, August 1630, was so high that it was impossible to record them all. In fact, deceased were so numerous that they had to be buried in the precincts of their homes to avoid any contact with other areas.
The normal recording of deaths was resumed in January 1631. In the same year, the community in Villa Bardello area (then renamed village of San Rocco) elected San Rocco, the saint protector against plague, as their patron saint.
On close examination, the Church of San Rocco is clearly constructed in two distinct styles. This suggests it was built in two different, quite distant periods of time. Apse, presbytery, and the south-facing bell tower have imposing architectural features, which are typical of the late 17th century, while the rest is architecturally more recent (1715-25) and built with greater economy. After an earthquake, some parts have been restored, and today the church is occasionally used for concerts.
Via Fratelli Cervi - 42022 Boretto
Phones
0039 0522 964105 - Parish church of Boretto
0039 0522 687463 - Guardian
The church is visitable upon previous arrangement with the guardian
See the indication to reach Boretto
Today’s church of Santa Croce is built on the spot where, around the year 1700, there used to be a Franciscan cloister with annexed cemetery. In 1716, after many previous unsuccessful applications, the community of Villa Arzenago (as the village then used to be called) finally managed to obtain permission from the then ruling lord Rinaldo III of Modena to build a church dedicated to Santa Croce. The church contains relics from the holy cross which are still worshipped today and is a fine example of 18th-century style Baroque architecture, simple and without excesses of stuccos and ornaments. The magnificent slender façade surmounted by an imposing cross seems to reach up to the sky.
The church was completed in 1726, and the village eventually came to be called Santa Croce instead of Villa Arzenago. The villagers of Santa Croce were so enamoured with the special quality of their “little motherland”, that they took care of it with the utmost devotion, making it into a little jewel of the low-lying plain. This constant search for nobility and forms has led the villagers of Santa Croce to define themselves as the “Parisians”.
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The Hall tower (1663-1723), incorporated in the Town Hall, is a fine example of Art Nouveau decorative style (Marcello Nizzoli).
In front of the tower is the statue of the winged Lion, the symbol of the city of Venice, known as “la Serenissima”, donated to the town of Boretto by Venice in 1958, in memory of the trading relations that once existed between the two towns, when Boretto was a stronghold of Venetian trade in the Po River valley.
Town Hall and Council Room: the Art Nouveau frescoes by Marcello Nizzoli.
Marcello Nizzoli was born in Boretto in 1887 and died in 1969. During his long career as an artist, he achieved international fame, particularly in the field of design. Among his early works, the frescoes in the Council Room offer a pleasant example of the cultured and decorative artistic trend of the early XX century known as Art-Nouveau style which, inspired by a remarkable level of artistic fervour, combined formal and chromatic elegance.