Compiano and its castle above the green Taro valley
Foglio HPart. 785Scala 1:2000
Parma, Emilia-Romagna

Compiano

One castle holds both the last marchioness's house museum and what the Ministry of Culture calls Italy's first and only museum of Freemasonry.

Compiano and the upper Taro valley, Emilia-Romagna. Davide Papalini, CC BY-SA 3.0. Cropped for layout.

Residents
1,047
Region
Emilia-Romagna
Best time
May to October. The museum opens on a seasonal calendar, with more days in July and August; confirm the current timetable before setting out.

Why it is worth the drive

Compiano Castle contains the Marchesa Gambarotta house museum and the Orizzonti Massonici museum. The Ministry of Culture describes the latter as Italy's first and only museum of Freemasonry, with English eighteenth- and nineteenth-century objects alongside material from Compiano.

Lina Raimondi Gambarotta lived in the castle from 1966 to 1987 and turned it into an eclectic house museum. The collection she gave to the municipality includes eighteenth- and nineteenth-century furnishings, paintings, tapestries and household objects.

Getting there

Genoa (GOA) is about 110 kilometres by road; Bologna (BLQ) about 180. Borgo Val di Taro is the nearest useful railway station, followed by a local road connection.

The honest part

The museum collections are seen through a guided visit and advance booking is strongly recommended. The current full ticket is ten euros, but opening days and prices are operational details: check the castle's own page before travelling.

SourcesIstat · Ministero della Cultura · Castello di Compiano · Parma Welcome5
  • Istat · 1 January 2026 (provisional)

    Evidence note. Italy, Sourced uses the municipality-level total in Istat's provisional 2026 population dataset.

  • Ministero della Cultura · updated 10 November 2021

    Evidence note. The ministry identifies the Gambarotta collection and describes Orizzonti Massonici as Italy's first and only museum of Freemasonry.

  • Castello di Compiano · accessed 13 September 2026

    Evidence note. The operator documents the marchioness's residence, the later museums and the castle's current uses.

  • Castello di Compiano · accessed 13 September 2026

    Evidence note. Current operating page: guided visits only, advance booking strongly recommended, seasonal opening calendar and a ten-euro full ticket.

  • Parma Welcome · accessed 13 September 2026

    Evidence note. The local tourism portal independently describes the international Masonic museum and the Flaminio Musa collection.

Last checked 2026-09-13. Opening hours and festival dates change: confirm with the town before you travel.