Berceto

Berceto, gateway to the Tuscan-Emilian Apennine National Park, is a village in the province of Parma, and a Unesco MAB (Man and the Biosphere) reserve. One of the most important Apennine passes in Europe is just 9 km away, the Cisa pass, which leads to the Po valley plain, Tuscany, the Tyrrhenian Sea and the Cinque Terre coastal villages.
A historic crossroads of civilisations as a result of the Via Francigena (Franciscan Way) running through it, Berceto is a European meeting place founded by the Longobard king Liutprand and the French bishop Moderannus, the town’s patron saint. Both of them wanted to build an abbey, which today has become the majestic Cathedral with its Romanesque forms. Highlights of this small Medieval village include the ruins of the Castle on the slopes to the north of the town, which have now been made into an archaeological park.
Less than an hour’s walk away is the most important junction of European paths, near the source of the Baganza stream: the Via Francigena, the Alta Via dei Parchi, and the Sentiero Italia, sacred locations for travellers in the past.

Berceto is the only settlement in the world to be twinned with an Indian Reserve in South Dakota, the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, linked to Tatanka Iyotaka’s (Sitting Bull) Lakota population.
The local cuisine is unmissable, with recipes featuring Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) Porcino mushrooms and Parmigiano Reggiano Parmesan cheese. They include “spongata” (dessert cake with nuts, honey and dried fruit), “mostarda” (condiment made of candied fruit and a mustard-flavoured syrup), “anolini” pasta envelopes in broth, and tortelli di erbetta (pasta envelopes filled with green vegetables).