Nature, culture and landscapes

The Trebbia river originates in the Ligurian Apennine, flows across the upper and central Apennino Piacentino, creating extraordinary meanders and lapping the medieval hamlet of Bobbio to reach the upper plain a little beyond the beginning of the regional park.

In Piacenza's fertile plain the river is not forced within the sometimes steep slopes of the valley, therefore it can become wider and slow down, making the plentiful load of gravel, sand and silt sediment.

Wide sediments of gravel characterize the river landscape of the park almost up to the confluence of the Po river, where the Trebbia river stops after a 118 km long stretch.
The exposed riverbed, reaching a width of almost 900 m in some stretches, is always so large that it represents, in the low water periods, the main way to discover the Park, also starting directly from the bridge of the Via Emilia.

Only near Rivergaro, in the upstream section of the main irrigation water withdrawals that have been branching off in Piacenza's countryside for centuries, the river has a most relevant flow rate.

Concerning the migratory birds, the Trebbia river is an important transit way and a stop and nesting place for the little ringed plover and the Eurasian stone-curlew, a rare species that has become a symbol of the Park.

The wide exposed riverbed changes over the year due to a specific flora that, far from the flowing water, is replaced by a more stable and developed vegetation including several spontaneous orchids of great natural value.

The riparian vegetation areas are interrupted by the mining activities which the Park has established a dialogue with, in order to combine the economic needs with the safeguard of the river environments.

Looking beyond the park's borders, it is noteworthy the presence of many castles, testimonies to the medieval facts of the territory and of the Duchy of Parma and Piacenza, characterizing the river landscape.

Source: text taken from the publication entitled "Parco Fluviale Regionale del Trebbia", promoted by the Office for Environment and Urban Requalification of the Region Emilia-Romagna. © Regione Emilia-Romagna, 2012.
Coordination: Parks and Forestry Resources Service (Enzo Valbonesi, Monica Palazzini, Maria Vittoria Biondi, Stefania Vecchio). By the Villa Ghigi Foundation.
Texts: Ivan Bisetti, Mariangela Cazzoli, Emanuela Rondoni, Chiara Spotorno.