The Palazzo Farnese is an enormous palazzo in the centre of Piacenza. If the plans for the building had been fully executed, it would have been twice as large, but the palazzo was in fact never completed. Its history is nonetheless intriguing and starts with the Visconti family from Milan.…
The church of Santa Maria di Campagna adjoins the Piazzale delle Crociate, the ‘square of the Crusades’. The name of the church refers to the fact that it was built outside the city walls of Piacenza, i.e. in the country. The name of the square is in its turn connected…
The history of the church of San Sisto goes all the way back to the ninth century. It was founded in 874 by Engelberga of Parma, wife of King Louis II of Italy (844-875). This Louis was a grandson of Louis the Pious and therefore a great-grandson of Charlemagne. The…
The first thing visitors will notice about the church of San Francesco is its imposing gabled façade, or facciata a capanna as the Italians say. The façade was almost entirely executed in brick, has three little towers and is basically too big for the church building behind it: behind the…
The Piazza dei Cavalli is the large square in Piacenza’s city centre. Under normal circumstances it probably attracts sizeable crowds, but when we were there in August of 2020 the square was almost deserted. This likely had everything to do with fewer people in the streets because of the COVID-19…
The large church of San Giovanni in Canale can be found near the edge of Piacenza’s city centre. The San Giovanni was the church of the Order of Preachers, also known as the Dominicans. Many Dominican churches are dedicated to Saint Dominicus Guzmán, the Spanish founder of the order. This…
Saint Antoninus is considered the patron saint of Piacenza, together with Saint Justina of Antioch. According to a not necessarily reliable tradition he was a soldier who was martyred in about 303 during the persecutions of Christians orchestrated by the emperor Diocletianus. His martyrdom was said to have taken place…
In 218 BCE Piacenza was founded by the Romans as the Latin colony of Placentia. In the fourth century CE the city got its first Christian bishop, and towards the end of this century a certain Sabinus was appointed as the second bishop of Piacenza. Sabinus died at the beginning…
Rules are rules, and sitting on the steps of the cathedral is not allowed in Piacenza. It was a clear message that a cyclist who happened to be passing by conveyed to my better half and myself. It was a hot day and the sun was out in force. We…