The best cycling routes around Ponte Dell'Olio

Central hub of the Piacenza mid-mountain, between the Nure and Arda valleys. From Prato Barbieri you can go down to Bettola, Morfasso and Gropparello. You can then go up to Passo Santa Franca, and from there reach Farini passing through Groppallo. Beautiful views guaranteed.

Very nice dirt roads, really recommended both in Gravel and MTB. Only a few sections are a bit rough.

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Nice panoramic pass

The Riva castle is a fortified complex located in Ponte dell'Olio, in the province of Piacenza. It is so called as it is located in the district of the same name in the town, whose name derives, in all probability, from its proximity to the Nure stream; the castle was, in fact, built on the right bank of the stream to control the passage along the Nure valley. Its location, near the point where the Nure begins to flow into the Po Valley, was strategic as it allowed control of the passage towards the sea: via the Aveto valley towards Liguria and via the Taro valley towards Lunigiana.

The Riva Castle, of typical medieval construction, dates back to 1277 as attested by the inscription MCCLXXVII fuit factum hoc castrum, carved inside the manor, and its construction is due to the Del Cairo family of Piacenza, who in 1323 handed it over to Anguissola, appointed by Duke Visconti in 1468, counts of the fiefdom. In 1567 they sold it to Duke Ottavio Farnese who elevated it to a marquisate and gave it to Paolo Vitelli, one of the captains in his service. In 1703 Riva passed to Cesare and Carlo Maggi and then to the Cusani of Milan. In 1778 it was sold to the Sforza Fogliani and then to the Scribani Rossi. Between the 19th and 20th centuries, the Roman prince Emanuele Ruspoli bought it, who completely renovated it in 1884, relying on the architect Angelo Colla, who was also responsible for the restoration of the Gothic Palace of Piacenza. The interventions are not limited to a conservative restoration, but involve a true reconstruction of the building in neo-medieval style which involves, among other things, the elevation of the keep and the creation of curtains and battlements. From Ruspoli the manor passed to the Fioruzzi family, and, therefore, to the current owner Sebastiano Grasso Camardi Polizzi.

The Riva Castle. On the right bank of the Nure torrent, between the watercourse and the road that goes up the lower Nure Valley, the Riva Castle stands out, 18 km from Piacenza, in the Castelli del Ducato circuit in Emilia Romagna. The stronghold of Riva was born in ancient times as a military outpost to control the passage over the territory, towards the sea, through the Val d'Aveto towards Liguria, the Val Taro towards Lunigiana and towards the Po Valley where the watercourse begins. The story in brief. The Riva Castle, of typical medieval construction, dates back to 1277 as attested by the inscription MCCLXXVII fuit factum hoc castrum, carved inside the manor, and its construction is due to the Del Cairo family of Piacenza, who in 1323 handed it over to Anguissola, appointed by Duke Visconti in 1468, counts of the fiefdom. In 1567 they sold it to Duke Ottavio Farnese who elevated it to a marquisate and gave it to Paolo Vitelli, one of the captains in his service. In 1703 Riva passed to Cesare and Carlo Maggi and then to the Cusani of Milan. In 1778 it was sold to the Sforza Fogliani and, then, to the Scribani Rossi. Between the 19th and 20th centuries, the Roman prince Emanuele Ruspoli bought it. Source: Castles of the Duchy of Parma, Piacenza, Guastalla and Pontremoli

The church, with a seventeenth-century layout, has a nave inside with lateral noble chapels with seventeenth-century stuccos and contains paintings by Giovanni Battista Galluzzi (1716). Dedicated to San Bernardino, born at the beginning of the 15th century in Massa Marittima in the territory of the Republic of Siena, who abandoned the law to become a friar and then a priest. His sermons are known both for their high religious content and for their notable literary value.