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.
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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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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
Altitude: 22 m
Inhabitants: 6.252 (updated to January 1, 2022)
Postal code: 42044
Weekly market day: Friday
Patron Saint: Madonna della Neve (August 5)
Hamlets: Pieve Saliceto, Santa Vittoria
0039 0522 221811 - Municipality
Comune Gualtieri (Gualtieri Municipality)
Borghi Viaggio Italiano
Gualtieri
By car
Distance from the Reggio Emilia exit of the A1 motorway: 20 km. Distance from the Reggiolo-Rolo exit of the A22 motorway: 16 km. National Road SS63, which runs from Mantua to Reggio Emilia. National Road SS62, which runs from Parma to Mantua and Verona.
By train
Station in Gualtieri, trains from Parma along Parma-Suzzara route.
Gualtieri is situated north of the province of Reggio Emilia, at a distance of 26 km from the administrative centre.
Historians narrate that the name "Gualtieri" appeared for the first time during the Lombard domination as "Castrum Vultureno" which later became "Castrum Walterii", or residence of the Lombard Gualtiero who lived in the 7th century.
But it is from the second half of 1400 that the story of Gualtieri begins as we can still see it today; belonged to the Sforza family in fact, in 1476, the feud passes under the dominions of the Este family of Ferrara, to which it will belong continuously until 1860.
From 1560 to 1635 it was marquisate of the rich Bentivoglio family, who built the "new city", according to the schemes of a refined late mannerism and under strict control of the laws of perspective, thus creating a gigantic theatrical scene in order to magnify the power of the Marquis .
Ippolito began the construction of the castle of which the current "palace" is only a part; he made architect G.B. Aleotti, known as l'Argenta, draw the beautiful square which is still intact, and helped with the construction of the "Collegiata".
It then suffered the disastrous consequences of the war of succession, the floods of the Po and the abandonment of the new Lords.
Furthermore, Cornelio and his son Ippolito began the grandiose reclamation work that redeemed the Reggio plain from the marsh and whose essential structures are still valid and efficient.
And Gualtieri still retains clear memories of this past.
In 1635 Enzo Bentivoglio, at the request of Duke Francesco I d'Este, exchanged Gualtieri for Scandiano.
From then until the unification of Italy, Gualtieri was a direct possession of the Este family.
Gualtieri is also sadly known for two great floods that occurred here, one in 1765, which exceeded 3.50 meters in the square, while the other, in 1951, reached 3.80 meters and of which the monuments in the square still bear memory.
The town was established in the centre of the Po Valley, on the banks of the Po River, at the time of the Lords.
Key historical dates are 1479, the year in which the town definitively came under the possession of the Este family from Ferrara and 24 July 1567, when Alfonso D’Este granted investiture to the faithful Cornelio Bentivoglio, lieutenant general of the Ferrara State.
Thanks to Bentivoglio, large-scale reclamation works began, the principle structures of which are still valid and efficient today.
In Piazza Bentivoglio is the Palace of the same name, as well as the Santa Maria della Neve Parish Church and the Civic Tower.
The square is a perfect square measuring one hundred metres on each side, crowned on three sides by airy porticoes with 69 arches.
It has both Renaissance and Baroque elements.
Palazzo Bentivoglio was built between 1594 and 1600 by Ippolito, who incorporated the “Casa Vecchia” (Old Home) of his father Cornelio.
The building originally had four 90-m-long brickwork façades, the same as those visible today. On the top floor is the magnificent Salone dei Giganti, frescoed with scenes taken from “Jerusalem Delivered” by Torquato Tasso, the Sala dell'Eneide, the Sala di Icaro, the Sala di Giove and the Cappella Gentilizia.
The Palace hosts the Antonio Ligabue Museum Foundation and the Collection of the tailor Umberto Tirelli.
Gualtieri is the birthplace of one of the most important “Naïve Art” painters of the XX century: Antonio Ligabue.
The Antonio Ligabue Museum Foundation, the permanent museum based in the Palazzo Bentivoglio in Gualtieri.
The Antonio Ligabue Museum, a house in Gualtieri where the painter Antonio Ligabue lived and worked.
The XVIII-century theatre of Palazzo Bentivoglio is now the Social Theatre: it promotes theatre and musical performances, also contemporary. It is also known as the inverted theatre as the stalls and the stage are inverted. It is a physical and conceptual inversion at the same time.
The Gualtieri floodplain is divided into “closed” and “open” parts, separated by an embankment called a “golenale” of about 1 m lower than the main embankment.
The closed part between the two embankments is characterized by crop farming, with a number of farmhouses and a XVIII-century hamlet, once inhabited by the “Sabiaroli”.
In this area is a protected natural area in what was once an old clay quarry called “I Caldarèn”.
The open part, towards the river, is occupied by large extensions of poplar forests often interrupted by patches of scrubland composed of native plants, lakes formed in abandoned quarries, skeps and oxbow lakes in which various animal and vegetable species live and reproduce.
It is possible to see wonderful natural landscapes following the cycle path that links Gualtieri to Boretto and Guastalla, such as the Isola degli Internati, the Lago azzurro (Blue Lake), the Caldarèn, Via Alzaia, the Piattello quarry and, in the floodplain, the beautiful profile of the towers of Gualtieri rising above the main embankment: it is a charming landscape where nature and architecture are in harmony.
The long Viale Po flanked by cypress poplars links directly to the centre of Gualtieri on the right bank of the Po River.
Festa del Pozzo (Festival of the Well) - Third weekend of June
Dances, musical performances, gastronomic events.
Journey to Gualtieri - September
Culture, landscape, food and wine. Performances, concerts, extraordinary openings, guided tours, dinners and nature trails to discover and rediscover the hidden places and stories of one of the most beautiful villages of Italy.
October Festival - Third Sunday of October
Tastings and sale of local food and wine products, funfair, market and cooking of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese.
A few kilometres from Gualtieri it is possible to find Santa Vittoria, a village known for its traditional watermelons, where the majestic Palazzo Greppi is worth a tour.
Piazza Bentivoglio - 42044 Gualtieri 0039 0522 221853
info@museo-ligabue.it
Fondazione Museo Antonio Ligabue
Because of ongoing renovation works on the exhibition floor of Palazzo Bentivoglio, the Antonio Ligabue Museum Foundation will be closed to the public until December 31, 2024.
Gualtieri
By car
Distance from the Reggio Emilia exit of the A1 motorway: 20 km. Distance from the Reggiolo/Rolo exit of the A22 motorway: 16 km. National Road SS63, which runs from Mantua to Reggio Emilia. National Road SS62, which runs from Parma to Mantua and Verona.
By train
Station in Gualtieri, trains from Parma along Parma-Suzzara route.
This Palace is in Santa Vittoria village, which is 5 (five) kilometers far from Gualtieri.
There are original works, such as pictures, graphic works and sculptures, as well as copies of pictures, it hosts copies of pictures by the painter as well as various documents and objects concerning the artist, creator of charming and phantastic images, sometimes called "wild", "crazy", "damned", "instinctive", "lonesome": Antonio Ligabue is now defined by most of Italian art critics and historians as an ingenious artist of the popular figurative culture, inspired by the XIX° century tradition.It is possible to watch original films on the painter.
]]>Via Giardino, 27 - 42044 Gualtieri +39 333 6546098 - Circolo A.I.C.S. "Il Borgo"
info@museoligabue.it
Museo Antonio Ligabue
Entrance by telephone reservation
From Monday to Sunday
9.30 - 12.30 / 15.30 - 18.30
Closing day: Tuesday
Gualtieri
By car
Distance from the Reggio Emilia exit of the A1 motorway: 20 km. Distance from the Reggiolo-Rolo exit of the A22 motorway: 16 km. National Road SS63, which runs from Mantua to Reggio Emilia. National Road SS62, which runs from Parma to Mantua and Verona.
By train
Station in Gualtieri: trains from Parma along Parma-Suzzara route.
This Palace is located in Santa Vittoria village, which is 5 kilometres from Gualtieri.
Some objects that belonged to Antonio Ligabue have been collected , together with , documents and reproductions of the great painter's works, and allow the visitor to follow the routes of his human life and art. In the museum you can also see unpubished video-documents historical ones, as well as the latest documentary film made by the director Ezio Aldoni.
]]>Piazza Bentivoglio - 42044 Gualtieri
Phone 0039 0522 828132
Gualtieri pastoral Unity
From 08:00 a.m. to 12:00 and from 02:00 p.m. to 07:00 p.m.
See the indication to reach Gualtieri
The present church is not the original building commissioned by Marquis Ippolito to be built “ex novo” at the beginning of the 17th century, but the result of radical renovation works carried out between 1773 and 1783.
The architect Aleotti and the engineer Vacca, who also designed and built Palazzo Bentivoglio, were appointed to design a temple with one nave and two aisles.
The Papal Bull of Pope Paul V Borghese dated 1608 decreed that the new church be dedicated to Our Lady of Snows.
Renovation works carried out toward the end of the 18th century reduced the structure of the church from one nave and two aisles to a single nave.
The works, which took place under the direction of the architect from Gualtieri G. B. Fattori, involved the construction of six side chapels and the replacement of the old coffered ceiling by a suitably protected wooden vault on wooden beams.
The main choir, which had been purchased by the cathedral of Guastalla in 1654, was restored and placed in its original location. The more recent figures of the Apostles and Prophets are in carved walnut.
Overhanging the choir is the ancon painting of Our Lady of Snows.
The first chapel on the left is dedicated to Our Lady of Mount Carmel, depicted on a large wall painting, and contains the baptismal font with a basin dating back to 1581.
Next to it is the chapel of the Holy Sacrament which contains a fine altar in Verona marble dated 16 July, 1871 made by the sculptor Rossi from Parma.
The third chapel is that of the Torelli Counts. The altar is made of extremely fine marble and the year of construction, 1779, is visible under the family coat-of-arms bearing the German inscription “In Hoffen” (In Hope).
The other three chapels on the right of the church are dedicated to Sant’Antonio da Padova, St. Andrew, and Our Lady of the Rosary respectively.
The most interesting chapel is the central one, dedicated to St. Andrew, also known as the “Chapel of the Community”.
The large painting in this chapel depicts St. Andrew the Apostle, the first Patron Saint of Gualtieri, surrounded by four fellow patron saints of the town. The painting was made by the painter from Brescello Carlo Zatti, who lived between 1810 and 1899. He was commissioned to do the work by the local council in 1844.
The church was re-opened as a place of worship with collegiate status in 1783, as shown by a memorial stone which is still located in the choir.
A few steps down on the left of the altar is the access to the basement of the church and the crypt, where excavations for the emplacement of tombs and relics started as far back as the early 17th century.
One of the most artistically significant works in the church is the Chapel of the Annunciation, located on the upper floor. The final decoration works to complete the chapel were carried out in 1845, with the addition of a scagliola altar above which is the large painting of the Virgin Mary by the painter from Ferrara Carlo Bonone (also known as Bononi), who lived between 1569 and 1632.
The slender bell-tower, built around the middle of the 19th century, was designed by the engineer Frizzi.
Strada statale 63, 265 - 42044 Gualtieri
Phone 0039 0522 828132 Parish of Gualtieri
upgualtieri@libero.it
Pastoral Unity of Gualtieri
Visitable upon previous arrangement only with the Parish of Gualtieri
See the indication to reach Gualtieri
The construction of the church in its present form dates to 1683.
The façade comprised a protruding cornice that divides the surface horizontally into two parts, both marked by projecting pilaster strips.
A simple rounded pediment, with a cross at the summit, completes the façade.
The bell tower, reconstructed in 1722, rises separately from the church. It has a rectangular plan and is set on a scarp base, with a profile of pilaster strips that divide the body vertically into three parts.
The upper part, with single-light windows on the four sides, holds a series of four bells cast in various periods.
The interior of the church is in Renaissance style with central nave and six side altars.
To the right on entering is the chapel dedicated to Santa Vittoria with a marble altar.
The saint is depicted in bust form in wood decorated with gold and silver in the Baroque style.
At the base of the sculpture is a glass case holding the reliquary of the saint, which arrived at the town of Santa Vittoria on donation by the Cardinal Vicar of Rome to the archdeacon of Guastalla in 1647.
The Church of Santa Vittoria suffered extensive damage over the years due to the flooding of the nearby Crostolo River.
In 1951, the right-hand nave and part of the roof collapsed, and the earthquake of 1987 caused serious damage to the pediment, the oldest part that had not been touched by the flooding.
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Via Ghiarone, 81 - Locality Pieve Saliceto, 42044 Gualtieri
Phone 0039 0522 828132 - Parish of Gualtieri
Pastoral unity of Gualtieri
See the indication to reach Gualtieri
Construction of the church began in 1653 and was completed in 1670.
The façade, subdivided horizontally by a cornice, has two overlying orders, Doric and Ionic, and is joined, according to a recurring schema of the time, by two simple volutes on the sides.
It is completed at the top by a tympanum which encloses a clock.
The interior of the church has a single nave and six side chapels.
The chancel holds fine stalls in walnut.
Of particular interest is the eighteenth-century stuccowork, the organ, and the altar-piece of the Bolognese school of Guido Reni.
The Romanesque bell tower is twenty-nine metres high.
Chiesa SS. Annunziata on Il paesaggio della Bonifica
Holy mess times
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piazza Felice Cavallotti - 42044 Gualtieri
Phone 0039 0522 828132
Visitable upon previous phone arrangement
See the indication to reach Gualtieri
The bell tower was erected on the initiative of Cornelio Bentivoglio on the occasion of the restoration of the entire complex.
In 1616, the church ceased to be parochial and was entrusted to the Minor Franciscan Friars who completely rebuilt it between 1713 and 1738.
Of note is the deep presbytery, which was remodelled in 1765 along with the chancel, the main altar, and the stucco balustrade.
The exterior is in terracotta and has a simple façade with a tall mixtilinear pediment.
The interior is spacious, with a central plan with bevelled corners that form an octagon.
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Gualtieri
By car
Distance from the Reggio Emilia exit of the A1 motorway: 20 km. Distance from the Reggiolo/Rolo exit of the A22 motorway: 16 km. National Road SS63, which runs from Mantua to Reggio Emilia. National Road SS62, which runs from Parma to Mantua and Verona.
By train
Station in Gualtieri, trains from Parma along Parma-Suzzara route.
This Palace is in Santa Vittoria village, which is 5 (five) kilometers far from Gualtieri.
The building is characterized by the constant repetition of precise standards of size and construction. It is composed of three main bodies and in part calls to mind the construction model of the villas in the Veneto region.
Of particular importance are the central body, with its aristocratic apartments, reception rooms and a magnificent hall called “il teatrino,” whose decorations date back to the beginning of the 19th century and have been cleaned and restored. The eastern and western wings have double porticoes.
What makes the Palazzo original is that its production activities and its use as a formal residence are brought together. The façade, which runs parallel to main road, faces the parish church. In 1974 the Local Council purchased the building, which was almost entirely abandoned, and began conservation recovery.
Piazza IV Novembre - Palazzo Bentivoglio - 42044 Gualtieri
Mobile +39 329 1356183 - Ticket office
info@teatrosocialegualtieri.it
Teatro sociale Gualtieri
The theater is normally accessible only for performances or events
According to the on going performance or event
Gualtieri
By car
Distance from the Reggio Emilia exit of the A1 motorway: 20 km. Distance from the Reggiolo/Rolo exit of the A22 motorway: 16 km. National Road SS63, which runs from Mantua to Reggio Emilia. National Road SS62, which runs from Parma to Mantua and Verona.
By train
Station in Gualtieri, trains from Parma along Parma-Suzzara route.
This Palace is in Santa Vittoria village, which is 5 (five) kilometers far from Gualtieri.
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Piazza Bentivoglio - 42044 Gualtieri
Fondazione Antonio Ligabue: phone 0039 0522 221853; 0039 349 2348333.
info@museo-ligabue.it
www.museo-ligabue.it
Palazzo Bentivoglio
From October 4, 2025
Saturday 3.00-7.00 p.m.
Sunday 10.00 a.m. - 12.30 p.m. / 3.00-7.00 p.m.
Weekdays only by appointment and for groups.
Entrance: Euros 3.00.
Free audioguide in Italian and English
Free guided tours: March 1, 8, 15, 22, 2026 at 4.00 p.m.
Info: Pro Loco phone 0039.335.6955053.
By car
Distance from the Reggio Emilia exit of the A1 motorway: 20 km. Distance from the Reggiolo/Rolo exit of the A22 motorway: 16 km. National Road SS63, which runs from Mantua to Reggio Emilia. National Road SS62, which runs from Parma to Mantua and Verona.
By train
Station in Gualtieri, trains from Parma along the Parma-Suzzara route.
What remains of the ancient castle has been transformed and incorporated into the present structure of Palazzo Bentivoglio.
The castle was built on the right bank of the Po River in an area that was fertile and sought after by the nobility of the period who aimed at controlling the waterways. The façade facing the large piazza and in the two towers in the rear corners preserve traces of the ancient splendour.
The complex was made up of a large quadrangular structure surrounded by deep moats at the four corners and included towers. The entire complex enclosed a large courtyard.
At the beginning of the 14th century the castle was owned by Azzo d’Este, followed in 1326 by the domination of the Da Correggio. In 1345 the property passed to Marquis Obizzo d’Este. In spite of his attempts made to strengthen the defences of the castle, he was nevertheless expunged that same year by the Gonzaga, who held the fief on behalf of the Visconti.
During the rule of the Gonzaga family the manor house, the site of constant battles, fell under the jurisdiction of Brescello.
In 1402, Gian Galeazzo, Duke of Milan, invested Ottobono Terzi with the fief, and in 1442 substituted the latter with Erasmo Trivulzio.
In 1452 Gualtieri was ruled by the Da Correggio, and then once again fell under the domination of Milan in 1454. An exchange of real property stipulated in 1479 between the Visconti and the nobility of Ferrara decreed that Gualtieri belonged to the Este Duchy and was subject to the Duchess Bona, invested by Ercole I. The House of Este maintained its dominion until 1567, when Alfonso I decided to concede the fief of Gualtieri to Cornelio Bentivoglio with the title of Marquis.
Cornelio significantly modified the layout of the town through the construction of a noble residence which he commissioned Giovan Battista Aleotti to build. The latter, known as l’Argenta, “to erect the massive structure” used material recuperated from the demolition of the Castellazzo, used as the seat of the Community Council.
Ippolito, Cornelio’s successor, began governing in 1594 and saw to the completion of the magnificent “Palazzo Bentivoglio,” respecting all the canons of the Renaissance.
There was a large central courtyard inside with gardens, surrounded by porticoes on which ran loggias leading to the apartments and reception halls.
Gualtieri’s period of splendour ended symbolically in 1634, when Francesco I of Modena took for himself the marquisate. In 1661, under the rule of Laura, Duchess of Modena, the palazzo was enlarged and enriched.
The House of Este sold the Palazzo in 1750 to the Local Council, to which it still belongs. In 1751 a large part of the building was demolished in order to stem the flooding of the Po River. An appraisal done in 1845 showed that, under local council management of the Palazzo, the various rooms remained more or less designated to the same use as previously, with the exception of the inclusion of a theatre in the left wing, designed by Giovan Battista Fattori at the end of the 18th century.
The public weighing house, slaughterhouse, customs house, granaries, and storage house were all located in the Palazzo until the 20th century, when the right wing of the building was turned into a school. In 1970 the Local Council began a series of restoration works aiming at maintaining and recovering the buildings.
The Palazzo, in whose central section one can still see the loopholes of the drawbridge of the ancient castle, is made up of four equal facades of one hundred metres each, with a raised central section.
The exterior, soberly shaped, appears to be markedby a double row of windows and an entrance with three barrel vaults.
The Sala dei Falegnami is located on the ground floor and is used nowadays for debates and conferences. Upstairs are located the Salone dei Giganti (the Giants), the Sala di Icaro (Icarus), the Sala di Giove (Jove), the Sala di Enea (Aeneas), and the family chapel.
The chapel, located next to the Sala di Icaro, has a vaulted ceiling in the middle of which is an octagonal fresco representing the Virgin Mary’s ascension into Heaven. There are also numerous stucco putti, scrolls, festoons and angels.
Via Vittorio Emanuele - 42044 Gualtieri
+39 0522 221811 - Municipality of Gualtieri
The civic tower is generally visible only from outside
See the indication to reach Gualtieri
It was built in the early 1600s on a square plan and rests on four supports which go down into the ground to a considerable depth. The tower is 44 metres high and is divided into three levels narrowing towards the top. At the first level, over the entrance arch, is a tribune in wrought iron. Higher up, the ancient clock looks down on the square from between two pillars topped by simple ionic capitals and finished by a slightly projecting trabeation covered with red roof tiles.
The second level, narrowed by the effect of two simple pillars on each side, has at its centre a slightly ondulating profile.
The tower rises with repeated motifs up to an octagonal sky-light with eight lights also covered by red roof tiles. The whole is finished with a slim, undecorated tambour with domed roof and weather vane.
Under the archway of the tower there is an interesting "padimetre" which shows the height of flood water from the River Po in 1705.
On the square is Palazzo Bentivoglio, which was the residence of the Marquis Gualtieri, and the Clock Tower.
Distance from the Reggio Emilia exit of A1 motorway: 20 km. Distance from Reggiolo/Rolo exit of the A22 motorway: 16 km. National Road SS 63, which runs from Mantua to Reggio Emilia. National Road SS 62, which runs from Parma to Mantua and Verona.
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