Rossena Castle (Castello di Rossena)

The fortress of Rossena was built on the summit of a volcanic hill from which you can admire the extraordinary landscape between the foothills of the Reggio Emilia Apennines and the vastness of the Po Valley. The castle complex, founded by the Canossa family, passed at the end of the 13th century into the hands of the da Correggio family who, by virtue of their alliance with the Este family, held it until 1612.

The primitive fortified garrison built by the Canossa family, built on the highest point of the hill, must have coincided with the structure of the keep that later became the pivot around which the fortress developed. The structure of the main tower was later surrounded by other buildings that defined an L-shaped building complex, fronted on the south-western slope by a courtyard and parade ground protected by polygonal walls topped by a patrol path.

At the foot of the fortress, the wall enclosed the area immediately below: it was a fortified circuit composed of curtain walls interspersed for a short distance by imposing scarped buttresses and reinforced at the south-eastern apex by a circular keep. Within the enclosure, a village and the church of San Matteo with a bell tower were built.