Animal-loving families find fertile ground around Piacenza. Below is an idea for a day trip.
Start at the Castle of San Pietro in Cerro, a few kilometers from Caorso, along the Turin-Brescia (A 21) highway, with its large park and special art collection that includes an authorized copy of the Warriors of Xian. A free dog-sitting service operates on site.
The journey continues to Castell'Arquato where you can enjoy lunch and a walk through the village, to be concluded with a climb to the Rocca Viscontea. From here the landscape in every season offers a different surprise.
The day ends at the archaeological site of Veleia Romana, where you can discover how the Romans lived in ancient times in the hills of Piacenza. Dogs are allowed on a leash at both sites.
The day out with family and four-legged friends begins in the plains of Piacenza, among small urban clusters and expanses of fields, at the castle of San Pietro in Cerro, located in the municipality of the same name.
The well-preserved 15th-century manor house is surrounded by a large park with a romantic tree-lined entrance avenue that gives access to the courtyard and the rooms that overlook it.
The rooms contain the history of the place and the passions of the owners. The attics house the modern art collection, while in the basement a cozy environment and careful lighting reveal to the visitor The Warriors of Xi'an: 40 perfect copies of the originals authorized and authenticated by the Chinese government.
During the visit, dogs are welcomed with a bowl of water and free dog-sitting service (reservation required).
The itinerary continues toward the hills. Passing through the Renaissance town of Cortemaggiore and Fiorenzuola d'Arda, one reaches for lunch the first high ground of the Val d'Arda: Castell'Arquato.
Starting from the parking lot along the Arda, it is possible to descend near the stream for a walk, before ascending through the narrow streets of the medieval village.
The monumental square is in the upper part of the town, where the Collegiate Church, the Palazzo del Podestà and the Rocca Viscontea are.
Your four-legged friends can climb with you to the top of the Rocca for a bird's-eye view of the square and the hills that change with each season, offering colorful autumns, clear winters that allow glimpses of the Alps, springs made up of all shades of green and golden summers of wheat and sunflower fields.
All that's left at this point is to devote some time to the local typical dishes: chisolino, a fried dough to go with cured meats and cheeses, anolini stuffed with cheese, and Colli Piacentini Monterosso DOC wine.
To end the day, we set off again for Veleia Romana. From Castell'Arquato take the road to Carpaneto Piacentino and follow the signs. A large dirt parking lot with some picnic tables welcomes visitors along the road. Once out of the car, you enter the site, which opens before the visitor's eyes as soon as you leave the ticket office.
The Romans soon learned to appreciate the thermal waters that once enabled the construction in Veleia of the Calidarium Tepidarium and Frigidarium, still recognizable from the pavements.
The most striking part is the large forum space onto which public buildings such as the basilica once overlooked. In the middle of the pavement runs an inscription in bronze letters that struck with sunbeams still shine and remind us of the work of euergetism of Lucius Lucilius Priscus.
A small antiquarium holds artifacts and copies of finds unearthed during excavations and now on display at the Archaeological Museum in the Pilotta Complex in Parma.
In the summer months the forum is transformed into a stage for the Veleia Festival of Ancient Theater.
