Home » Protected Areas

Parco dello Stirone e del Piacenziano

A stream between walls rich in fossils

The Park, as it is now, was established in late 2011 through the union between the Stirone River Regional Park and the Piacenziano's Geological Nature Reserve.

The Stirone Area lies between the provinces of Parma and Piacenza, in the municipalities of Fidenza (PR), Salsomaggiore Terme (PR), Alseno (PC) and Vernasca (PC), and it develops on both sides of the stream, with an average width of about 1 km, from the locality of La Villa, upstream, up to the bridge on the Via Emilia, in Fidenza.
The Piacenziano Area develops all over Piacenza's territory, and it safeguards the nine stations of the former Reserve that are separated one from the other and distributed in five different valleys, all belonging to the municipalities of Castell'Arquato, Lugagnano Val d'Arda, Vernasca, Gropparello and Carpaneto Piacentino.

The whole Park is extremely important from the paleontological point of view, thanks to the remarkable presence of fossils dating back to the Tertiary and Quaternary periods, which made this place famous in the international scientific world.

Since 2012 it is managed by the Managing Authority for the Parks and Biodiversity - Western Emilia.