Northern gate of Lunigiana and typical medieval town, was developed by the union of many houses around its castle. The Piagnaro Castle is situated on the top of a hill above the Cisa main road, it has recently been totally restored and hosts the Museum of the Statue Stele. The castle and the characteristic houses of the town are positioned in such a way that they seem to defend the historical centre, which is closed off on the north side by Porta Parma and on the south side by the confluence of the two rivers Magra and Verde. The borough hosts numerous monuments such as the Cathedral of S. Maria del Popolo (seventeenth century) with its baroque interior, the bell-tower Campanone, the tower of the old city walls which devided Guelphs and Ghibellines, the Church of S. Colombano and the Church of S. Pietro with its Labyrinth of the Pilgrim sculpture, the Church of SS. Annunziata, built in 1471. The Caveau del Teatro is at the centre of this small pearl of Lunigiana, facing the baroque work-of-art of the Church of Nostra Donna and of the Teatro della Rosa, one of the first theatres in Italy recently restored and full of rich baroque interiors. The town of Pontremoli hosts the Bancarella Prize, a famous literary prize held once a year on the third Sunday of July.

Pontremoli