A Blend of History, Motorsport, & Renaissance Art

About the Space

A town on the first slopes of the Parma hills, in the upper Ceno valley, known for its castle, Dallara supercars factory as part of the MotorValley, and racetrack. The hamlet of Riviano has Latin origins; the oldest official evidence of the existence of the village dates back to 1217, when it was besieged by troops from Milan and Piacenza. It was later assigned to the Pallavicino marquises, feudal lords of nearby Varano. The Pallavicinos were forced to definitively abandon the government of the territory in 1805, as a result of the Napoleonic abolition of feudalism; Varano then became the seat of a municipality. The “Palazzo” of Riviano is a building from 1500. The first inhabitants were the Galli and the Ventura; at the beginning of 1900 it passed to the lawyer Alessandro Malgarini, professor of law in Parma, Pavia and Palermo, and then dean of the University of Parma. Afterwards his daughters Pia and Angela inherited it. Today four families descended from them live there. Even such a secluded location had its celebrity: at the time of Duchess Maria Luigia, one of her captains who lived in the Palazzo noticed among the peasants Ettore Galli (Varano de' Melegari, 1811 – Vienna, 1841), a boy who drew very well. He reported him to the Duchess who had him educated: he was sent at state expense to attend the Milanese studio of the engraver Luigi Manfredini, then to Vienna where he lived and died. Ettore became a famous engraver of medals, many of which are kept in the museums of Parma.