Cervarolo

Accessibility
Location Cervarolo. It's 17 km from the administrative capital. You take the SP 9 up to Cervarolo

Tourist Area
Apennines

Description
The hamlet rises on the peak of a dividing ridge which encompasses a vast stretch of the Dolo torrent valley, near the Eastern Slopes of Mount Became.
The antique origin of the settlement is proven by its being a part of the dominion of the Matilde di Canossa and subsequently the jurisdiction of the medieval fort of "Scalelle".
The urban plan of the village is linear with obvious bunching along the divide.
The rural center still has a significant historical-architectural patrimony characterized by a few buildings of relevant interest.
Restorations and renovations of constructions have dispersed numerous medieval architectural features which have been replaced on the façades of other buildings with a consequential peculiar overlapping of construction elements belonging to different historical periods.
The buildings which are most noteworthy historically and architecturally are situated in the upper part of the village where you can see a cluster of buildings closely placed together which show rather antique construction features, amongst which of noteworthy importance is an ample raised portal bearing on the architrave the year "1425".
Immediately to the east of this building there's a construction which constitutes the only example of a 17th century rural building of the higher Reggiano Apennines arriving almost intact in our time.
The building is characterized by an ample covered ramp which leads to the entrance portal where on the architrave you find the year of construction "1640".
The façades of other nearby buildings are distinguished by particular architectural features going back to different periods and are at times decorated by a rich sequence of antique symbols such as the spiral sun, the rose and the Greek cross.
At the center of the village there's a small slab stone square to which a few low buildings with slab roofs face.
Below Cervarolo, to the west of the town, there's a parochial church dedicated to Santissima Annunziata, consecrated in 1618.
The building, which can be considered one of the most significant in the higher Reggiano Mountains, is characterized by a rich sequence of sculptured ornaments.
The construction retains most of its original architectural characteristics, characterized by a knowledgeable use of ornate stone.
The large entrance portal is surmounted by a broken frontispiece decorated with mask cartigli and allegorical figures on which there's a small late 18th century squared window – sculpted in bas-relief with motives of fitomorfa inspiration.