Civic Tower and Villa Trabucchi

The complex stands in the centre of the village, and is characterised by the massive crenellated tower of medieval origin flanking the 19th-century villa. The tower represents one of the first nuclei around which the village community was organised; in fact, it was built in 899 by concession of Berengario I, to serve as a defence for the built-up area against Hungarian raids, and after various vicissitudes, in 1260 it became the municipal seat. In 1399 the Tower was fortified by the mercenary captain Jacopo Dal Verme and later by the Serenissima, who added a patrol path. At this time, the Tower was three-storeyed and was connected by a movable bridge to a nearby building of which no trace remains; a caretaker, paid by the townspeople, had the task of guarding it. It was restored in 1885, after the insults received from the French and the Austrians at the end of the 18th century, and became an integral part of Villa Trabucchi. The tower is today crenellated, with four floors communicating by an internal staircase and with balconies and windows on the various floors. On the ground floor, a passageway with an archway connects the entrance courtyard with the courtyard in front of the villa, which is bordered by a retaining wall with nine small arches overlooking the park, full of majestic century-old cedars. Villa Trabucchi is a three-storey building, the façade of which has architraved openings on the ground floor and curved openings on the upper floors, and is concluded by a large triangular pediment. The architectural and decorative elements are reminiscent of the eclectic and neo-Gothic taste popular at the end of the 19th century.