Borgonovo Valtidone: Routes, Architecture and Fiera dell’Angelo

Borgonovo Valtidone for planning your trip

If you’re looking for a hotel in Borgonovo Valtidone, you can plan your stay around different local features: historic churches and castles, routes in the Val Tidone, or the Fiera dell’Angelo. This lets you decide in advance whether architectural history, a walk or an event around Easter will be your main focus.

Routes and townscape

The tree-lined Viale di Borgonovo follows the course of the former town wall and marks the edge of the historic centre. It’s suitable for a leisurely walk. On the Sentiero del Tidone, by contrast, the route surface is an important point of reference: most of the path has a firm earth or gravel surface. At some points, fords cross the stream; pedestrians and cyclists can bypass them using short, signposted alternatives.

The two routes are therefore quite different: the Viale is described as a leisurely walk, while the Sentiero del Tidone has a mostly earth or gravel surface and includes stream crossings and marked detours. When planning a route, you can take these specific details about the surface and crossings into account.

Churches, castles and architectural history

The Chiesa di San Bernardino already existed in the 15th century. Borgonovo’s Collegiata di Santa Maria Assunta houses a polyptych by Bongiovanni and Giovanni Bassiano de Lupis, dating from 1474. A polyptych is a multi-panel artwork; here, both the date and the artists’ names provide specific points of reference for understanding the work.

The present-day Castello di Borgonovo is built entirely of brick. The fortress and the Recetto should be clearly distinguished from one another. The Castello di Corano is a notable example of a monolithic building in the Piacenza area and has an irregular trapezoidal floor plan. Some rooms were decorated by Luigi Arrigoni (1896–1964), whose studio was there from the beginning of his career. The present-day Castello di Corano is said to date from 1453.

The Castello di Castelnovo has a different chronology: it stands in the hamlet of the same name, a short distance from Borgonovo. It was first built in the 11th century, extensively rebuilt around 1350, and restored in 1936. Framed by a park and an outer entrance avenue more than 1 km long, it offers distinctive features in addition to its architectural history. The dating of the Castello di Corano and the construction phases of Castelnovo should not be conflated into a single date of origin.

Fiera dell’Angelo and Chisöla

The Fiera dell’Angelo takes place on Easter Sunday and Easter Monday. The programme includes livestock and agricultural machinery exhibitions, market stalls and an amusement park. As the event is tied to Easter, plan your visit around the relevant Easter weekend.

Chisöla is another local point of reference: this traditional peasant focaccia with ciccioli is typical of the Val Tidone and is listed in the De.C.O. register of the Municipality of Borgonovo Valtidone. Alongside churches, castles and routes, this distinctive speciality and its connection to the municipality are also part of the local culture.

Getting there by car

When travelling by road via the A1/A21, the route goes via the Castel San Giovanni exit, then along the SP 412 towards Borgonovo. This sequence gives you clear reference points for planning your journey.

Discover more destinations: Bobbio, Lugagnano Val D’arda, Roveleto, Caminata, Cadeo, Podenzano, Pecorara, Bettola

For the overview of the wider area: Piacenza.