The Castle and the village of Tabiano are situated in a dominant position on the first hills that overlook the Italian Po Valley, with a unique panorama that ranges from the Apennines to the Alpine chain. They are located just minutes from the famous Terme di Salsomaggiore and Tabiano.
The Castle is one of the most important defense monuments of the feudal era in the Upper Emilia. Built at the beginning of the eleventh century on an ancient Roman settlement, it was one of the fundamental principals of the Marquis Pallavicino for the control of the Via Francigena and of the salt wells of the area.
The nearby Salsomaggiore salt mines have always played a central role in the economy of the area. Celts and Etruscans used salt extracted to preserve wild pork and milk. From this ancient tradition, taken by the Romans who raised pigs in the plain to provide salted meat to the legions, some of the most prestigious local DOPs were born: Parmigiano Reggiano, Parma Ham, Culatello di Zibello or Salame di Felino.
After centuries of disputes between large noble families to get hold of it, in the 19th century the Castle was transformed into a private home and the center of a farm that produced and matured Parmigiano Reggiano in the Borgo and in the Castle until 90.
Along the slopes of rock on which the fortress was built there is the Borgo di Tabiano Castello, an integrated part of the castle’s defense system. Important remains of fortification are still intact, including the two circular towers to the south and north (12th century), a good part of the wall in stones and the watchtower (13th century) with the drawbridge which was the only access at the Castle until the late Middle Ages.Borgo and Castello have been for almost a millennium the center of life and rural production. Throughout the twentieth century, the beating heart of the local economy was the dairy and the dairy, where the milk from the surrounding farms was harvested and processed to become Parmigiano to be aged in the Castle’s warehouses.With the end of the production of Parmigiano, in 2005 a gradual work of recovery of the village began to transform it into a Charme Relais with rooms, suites and apartments, meeting rooms, wellness and two restaurants, one of which located in the old Caseificio.
The Castle of Tabiano and all the Castles of the Duchy need you: every visitor, every tourist who enters one of our manors takes a trip into Beauty and helps us keep alive and open fortresses, fortresses, manors.Anyone who visits a castle becomes its Custodian forever.Thank you all! We are waiting for you!
The Tabiano Castle is part of the Stirone and Piacenziano Park.
In its thousand-year history, the Castle has been at the center of wars, sieges, destruction, conspiracies, betrayals, but also of loves, poetry and legends.In these walls have lived people like Rolando the Magnificent, Solestella, daughter of the Count of Bardi and mother of Isabella, remained famous as ‘the Angel of Tabiano‘, for its goodness, its beauty and unhappy love for the knight French Riccardo d’Orange.
The first four centuries of the life of the Castle traces the medieval events: war between Guelphs and Ghibellines, between empire, papacy and communes, sieges, destruction, conquests, betrayals, but also loves, conspiracies between relatives and betrayals between legends and reality .
The chronicles tell us the memory of Pelavicino Pallavicino, the first troubadier of those times in Northern Italy, of Oberto the Great Pallavicino, main ally of Emperor Federico II in the siege of Parma, but also of Tancredi Pallavicino, killed by his brother Delfino in a place that still today is called ‘Porta Rossa’ due to the color of spilled blood.
The same Delfino, in 1148 defeats his father Oberto and the piacentini in a nearby hill that still today is called ‘La Battaglia’. After two years of siege, in 1150 Delfino was defeated and the Castle of Tabiano was set on fire. The reconstruction took place in a very short time thanks to the intervention of Emperor Frederick I said the Barbarossa.
In its long history the stronghold of Tabiano passes several times: the Canons of Parma in 1180, then the noble family of the Cornazzano; in 1249 the emperor Federico II returned it to Uberto the Great Pallavicino, who lost it shortly afterwards by the Guelphs of Parma.
It follows over a century of mystery, with only some vague information of a siege in 1326. Tabiano re-emerges in all its grandeur in 1359 as a possession of the Marquis Pallavicino who will defend it from the numerous assaults of Ottobono Terzi and Bernabò and Gianmaria Visconti; the latter entrusts the company to the famous leader Nicolò Piccinino, who conquered it in 1442.
Nicolò Pallavicino reconquered the castle by surprise, but Bernabò Visconti, back in force, put him to the sword and Nicoole was barely saved through ancient passages. In 1391 Gian Galeazzo Visconti, imprisoned uncle Bernabò, returned the castle to the ancient feudal lords.
In the first half of the fifteenth century the great political and warlike capacity of Rolando, called ‘Il Magnifico’, reports Tabiano under the dominion of the Pallavicino family. At his death, however, begins a slow decline of the great Ghibelline family, determined both by the advent of the Farnese, both by the progressive strengthening of the Lords and by the change in military strategy, which makes the castles of defense less and less important.
In 1457 the fief was assigned to his son Uberto and remained for three centuries in the hands of the Pallavicino called Tabiano. Over the years, the castle also lost its role as the residence of the Pallavicino family, which progressively moved the center of gravity to Parma.
In 1756 on the death of Odoardo Pallavicino, the fief was confiscated by the Farnese family. But the Pallavicino family did not leave the scene altogether: the Marchesa Ottavia, daughter of Giulio Lucrezio and wife of Ferdinando Landi, returned to the castle and handed it over to her new family.
The castle of Tabiano rises again to life thanks to the intervention of Giacomo and Rosa Corazza, who in 1882 revealed it from Sofia Landi, Ottavia’s nephew. The young couple, which boasts ancient origins of the Canton Ticino, repairs the walls, restores the Ghibelline merlons and the tower, calls the most famous artists and the best craftsmen in the area to decorate the unadorned rooms with wonderful stuccoes and frescoes.
Carlo, the youngest of the sons, gave a decisive impulse to agricultural activities, in particular to the production of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese in the Borgo di Tabiano dairy.
The Castle tour of about 40 minutes passes through the most interesting places of the Castle, the ancient vaulted cellars with large oak barrels, the frescoed halls, the ballroom, the hall of coats of arms, the family library, the private chapel , the staircase of honor, the terraces, the gardens, the ‘Red Door’.
The Castle has a wide variety of frescoed rooms and evocative environments for every need of business meeting or event. In the cellars events of up to 250 people can be held.
All the rooms can be equipped with a screen, video projector, WIFI connection and arrangement of the chairs and tables as requested. The location of the spaces in the Castle allows you to accommodate up to 400 people, with even 6 meetings and / or work groups at the same time.Ideal for conferences, incentives, boards of directors, training courses, seminars and, in particular, also for receptions and gala dinners.
Main rooms and spaces for events at the castle:
– Cellars: a complex of rooms over 500 square meters with a large central hall of 140 square meters that can accommodate up to 160 seats
– Hall of Mirrors: prestigious frescoed hall with mirrors and stuccoes of 100 MQ that can accommodate up to 80 seats
– Hall of the Hunters: prestigious frescoed hall with stuccoes of 80 square meters that can accommodate up to 60 seats
– Sala degli Stemmi: prestigious frescoed hall of 70 square meters that can accommodate up to 50 seats
– Sala Gialla: prestigious frescoed hall of 60 square meters that can accommodate up to 40 seats
– 4 more rooms with frescoes and stuccoes of about 40 square meters for small meetings
– Panoramic terraces between the castle walls of about 800 square meters
Business services
We offer a variety of solutions for large events or small meetings, meeting every specific need for conventions, conferences, training courses, team building, incentives, workshops, fashion shows, showrooms, business lunches and dinners.Equipment: flip chart, screen, projector, wi-fi adsl line microphones, tables and chairs.
Conference services
Welcome coffee, coffee break – coffee station, working lunch, cocktails and aperitifs, gala dinner, reception and reception, secretarial service, team building activities, pre and post-congress activities, cloakroom service, parking, transfer, interpreting, visits guided tours to the Castle, accompanying program and wine tour, hostess service other services on request.
The Castle of Tabiano with its gardens and flowered terraces, the grand staircase, the private chapel and the nearby ancient parish church, reachable through a beautiful tree-lined avenue, offers a very suggestive setting for a wedding ceremony.
In a dominant position on the slopes of the Parma Apennines, it enjoys a panorama that from the Po Valley can range up to the Alps. The main terrace located under the tower and the two wings of the Castle can accommodate up to 300 people seated and in the gardens it is possible to organize the appetizer. As interior spaces that can accommodate over 250 people are available frescoed rooms decorated with mirrors and antique fireplaces and the ancient vaulted cellars that offer a very suggestive environment.
For the events the best catering is available and floral decorations and scenic lighting can be arranged on request. Guests can also request a personalized wedding planning, personally supervised by the property.
To accommodate relatives and friends, just below the Castle, the Relais de Charme Antico Borgo of Tabiano, can accommodate up to 150 people and can organize breakfast, brunch, appetizers and pizza parties.
Do you have any questions? Do not hesitate to write us for any questions or information.
info@portalesalsomaggiore.it