Gualtieri is a town in the province of Reggio Emilia, in Emilia-Romagna, in the lower Reggio area, which rises close to the bank of the Po which marks the border with Lombardy. The painter Antonio Ligabue lived here from 1919 until his death.
Village of medieval origin, Gualtieri has suffered the floods of the Great River several times over the centuries. The last in order of time, truly catastrophic, was in 1951, when the water reached the keystones of the arches of Piazza Bentivoglio at 3.80 meters high. The town has nevertheless preserved the elements of its splendor in the Renaissance period under the Bentivoglio lordship, starting from Piazza Bentivoglio, a perfect square of 100 meters on each side, with a portico on three sides.
Here is Palazzo Bentivoglio, formerly the residence of the Marquises Bentivoglio di Gualtieri, which houses the "Antonio Ligabue Documentary Museum and Study Center", dedicated to the works of the famous twentieth century painter who was born in Zurich and lived and ended his life in Gualtieri.
Not far from the center of Gualtieri is the Po di Gualtieri beach, which connects to that of the neighboring municipality of Guastalla. Beyond the river is the Lombard bank of Pomponesco. These same banks were the scene of trade since the Middle Ages, dispensing wealth to the coastal populations. Here great reclamation works transformed the territory into its natural habitats and its artistic and urban riches, which today retain a considerable historical, architectural and landscape value. From this point of view, the Torrione di Gualtieri drainage plant is interesting.
From the point of view of food and wine, the specialties of the territory range from the tradition of the land to that of the river, starting with the Parmigiano Reggiano of the red cows, a special variety of the best-known Italian cheese in the world, which comes only from the milk of the cows from the mantle. red from the Reggiana breed.
Foto: di Sailko - Opera propria, CC BY-SA 4.0