Varese Ligure

The Fieschi counts planned Varese Ligure on the road from Parma to the sea: its Borgo Rotondo is an oval of identical stone houses enclosing two squares, with arcades where shops and stores once stood. The village lies in the upper Val di Vara, where the Crovana joins the Vara, close to where Liguria meets Emilia and Tuscany. The family's castle still closes the northern end of the ring.

Highlights

• The Borgo Rotondo, the oval core around Piazza Fieschi and Piazza Castello
• Castello Fieschi, with towers built in 1435 and 1472
• The Ponte di Grecino, a single-arch bridge of 1515 over the Crovana
• Palazzo Ferrari, linked to Foscolo's ode to Luigia Pallavicini
• The civic tower, once the bell tower of an Augustinian church

Summary based on Wikipedia and Wikivoyage (CC BY-SA), written with AI assistance.