Compiano

Compiano is a small medieval village of around 1,000 people in the Apennine foothills of the Parma province, in the Alta Valtaro near the border with Liguria. Its history dates to a 9th-century Carolingian stronghold; the Malaspina family held it around the year 1000, and from 1312 the Landi family ruled it for over four centuries, one of the longest-held lordships in Italy. The centrepiece is the medieval Castello di Compiano, both a defensive fortress and a later frescoed residence, which today houses a Masonic museum and the Gambarotta collection of 18th-century furnishings and paintings, bequeathed to the town by its last owner. Compiano is a member of I Borghi più Belli d'Italia (Italy's most beautiful villages).

Compiano is in the Val di Taro, in the Apennine hills of Parma province, reachable by road from Parma via the SS523 valley road.

The village is small and its old-town alleys are walked on foot.

The Castello di Compiano, with its Masonic museum and Gambarotta collection, dominates the village; the narrow medieval alleys offer views over the surrounding Apennine hills.

Local Val di Taro specialties include porcini mushroom dishes, gnocchi with chestnuts and ricotta, and veal alla Valtarese.

Compiano lies along the Val di Taro route toward the Cento Croci and Bocco passes into Liguria, and within reach of Parma.