Vigoleno, a castle and a Historic Fortified Village

The village of Vigoleno stands out for the elegance of its forms and the integrity of its defensive system.

Certified as one of the Most Beautiful Villages in Italy and holder of The Orange Flag of the Italian Touring Club, Vigoleno is a perfect example of medieval housing logic.

The imposing crenellated walls, partly crossed by a panoramic patrol walkway, are dominated by the massive keep (with four floors which can be visited).

Going eastwards from the main square, where there is a 16th-century fountain,  you reach the Romanesque church of San Giorgio, dating back to the second half of the 12th century.

Vigoleno is a hamlet of the municipality of Vernasca, in the province of Piacenza. It is located on the ridge of a low hill and has a wide view of the surrounding valleys and hills.

The village of Vigoleno stands out for the integrity of its defence system, a perfect example of the logic of medieval housing.

The crenellated walls are imposing, partly crossed by a panoramic patrol walkway: the quadrangular keep with its embrasures, corbels and Ghibelline merlons stands out, with four floors for visits. In the square you can admire the 16th-century fountain and in the village the Romanesque church of San Giorgio.

So how did people live in the Middle Ages?

You can find out by walking through the village of Vigoleno, in the province of Piacenza, visiting the keep and the castle that Duchess Maria Ruspoli de Gramont transformed from 1921 to 1935 into an extraordinary cultural salon, hosting cultural and high society figures of the 20th century such as Gabriele D’Annunzio and Max Ernst. The ancient village, which has remained intact to this day, was a fiefdom of the Scotti family and still has its walls, high keep, patrol walkway and cistern/icehouse. The only access to the village is through a large triangular fortress (one of the few remaining today).