A Bed & Breakfast accommodation in the small village of Scipione
Italy’s beauties are often underrated. If you are looking for a relaxing and amenable place to stay over the weekend or for a day off you can find it nestled amongst the Parma hills that stretch out across the northern Apennines. Just less than 70 miles far from Milan away, in an area steeped in history where it is like stepping back in time, a medieval small village is looked over by the castle of marquises Pallavicino.

Over the years, one of the houses of the medieval village has been made over by Laura and Massimo into a charming lodging tucked away in the trees, which conjures up the pleasant old spirit of the rural life of the region of Emilia.

Their love for this place has led Laura and Massimo to transform it into a personal home and share these hidden beauties with the people who are going to visit it and pass on to their friends the beauties of the region: its nature, its history, its heritage and also its wines and food.

You will have a chance to wake up in a silent and peaceful place where the only noises are the chime of the tower bell and the chirp of birds. Besides, you can enjoy the peacefulness of the garden or sit by the fireplace, go for a walk, have a bike or a horse ride on country roads and in the woods, visit the many castles of the area, have a relaxing bath in the warm salt-bromo-iodic spa water of Salsomaggiore with a very special Liberty-style feel to it and end your day with a delicious dinner made up of Parma ham, culatello, truffles, mushrooms and the traditional handmade tasty pastries.

The village
Scipione Castello is a small village nestling on a hill that is overlooked by the castle of Marquises Pallavicino; the castle is still inhabited by the family’s heirs and dominates the regional river park of Stirone, which has a geological importance. Tradition has it that the name Scipione (in Latin Scipio means stick) is connected with a Roman villa that was built there by some relatives of Publio Cornelio Scipione l’Emiliano, the general who defeated Carthage. The castle and the houses clustered around it were probably built with the function of sheltering the premises of Marquises Pallavicino. In medieval times they possessed a wide territory stretching to the banks of the river Po.

Besides the castle, which can be visited, the tiny village is made up of a small cluster of houses, a restaurant next to the castle, a small church and the Bed & Breakfast. Its building, which used to lodge the huntsmen of the marquises, dates back to the end of the nineteenth century. The hillside is dotted with vineyards and a wood where pheasants, magpies and little owls build their nests; passers-by can even glimpse squirrels jumping from one tree to another arching their sleek tail: as a matter of fact this is an ideal sanctuary for animals.

The garden
Laura adores flowers and tries to cheer up the garden in every season with colours and fragrances. In the summer, breakfast is served in the garden, among tulips, daffodils, irises and roses, scented plants, wisteria and jasmines. Guests can chat or read a book on the meadow that is opposite the house or sunbathe and relax at the rear of the house in the shadow of fruit trees, maples and birches, enjoying the breeze blowing from the Po Plain and on sunny days they have the chance of glimpsing the Alps in the background.

The building
The Bed & Breakfast sits snugly at the foot of Castle Scipione and is protected by the bell tower of the village. It’s divided into two interconnecting zones, one is made up of a kitchen and a living room with a fireplace and bedrooms coming with their own bathrooms upstairs, the other is reserved for the owners. The ceilings feature the ancient beams showing. There are mostly nineteenth-century terracotta floors; some walls are of sandblasted stone, of which the whole house is built.

Massimo loves repairing wood and wrought iron, with which walls and rooms are decked, while the furniture bought over time in the many antique shops of the surroundings adds to the interior decoration.

The Bed & Breakfast is equipped with heating and Wi-Fi connection.