Emilia-Romagna · Reggio nell'Emilia
Gualtieri
A right-bank Po commune in the Reggiana lowlands, built around a hundred-meter-square arcaded piazza and the Bentivoglio palace that holds the Ligabue collection.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Why Gualtieri is on our list
It holds Borghi più belli d'Italia.
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Visiting
- Best time
- Apr–Jun, Sep–Oct
- By car
- 47 min from Parma
- By train
- Station in the comune
- Population
- 6,355
- J8°
- F13°
- M15°
- A19°
- M23°
- J29°
- J32°
- A32°
- S27°
- O21°
- N13°
- D8°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Why come
Gualtieri sits on the right bank of the Po, twenty-five kilometers north of Reggio Emilia, on the floodplain the Bentivoglio family reclaimed in the late sixteenth century. Piazza Bentivoglio, designed as a perfect hundred-meter square with arcades on three sides and sixty-nine arches, is the largest porticoed square in Emilia. Palazzo Bentivoglio at the closed end was built between 1594 and 1600 by Ippolito Bentivoglio, who incorporated the older family Casa Vecchia.
The square and the palace flooded repeatedly through the centuries; the 1951 Polesine flood reached 3.80 meters, marked on the arch keystones. The Palazzo holds the Antonio Ligabue Museum: Ligabue (1899-1965), the self-taught Naïf painter who lived in poverty on the Po floodplain, painted the jaguars, tigers and rural scenes that have made him the most recognized twentieth-century Reggiana artist. The same building holds the Umberto Tirelli costume collection.
How to get there
From Bologna (BLQ), about 1 h 17 min by car.
Verona (VRN) is about 1 h 24 min away.
By car from the center of Parma 47 min.
There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive without a car.
Coming from Verona, Bologna or Milan?
Coming by train into Reggio Emilia AV? Gualtieri is about 36 min away by road.
Every town within reach of Bologna airport.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Piazza Bentivoglio
Hundred-meter-square arcaded piazza laid out in the late sixteenth century, with sixty-nine arches on three sides and Palazzo Bentivoglio closing the fourth.
Palazzo Bentivoglio
Late-sixteenth-century palace by Ippolito Bentivoglio, with frescoed halls and a series of allegorical cycles by Pier Francesco Battistelli and Marcantonio Franceschini.
Museo Antonio Ligabue
Permanent collection of paintings and sculptures by the Naïf master Antonio Ligabue, housed inside Palazzo Bentivoglio.
Collezione Umberto Tirelli
Stage costumes and film wardrobe assembled by tailor Umberto Tirelli for Visconti, Zeffirelli and others, displayed in the palace.
Golena del Po
Po river floodplain north of the centro storico, with cycle paths along the levee and the marks on the piazza arches recording the 1951 flood height.
Living here
Could you live here?
Gualtieri meets all 3 of our rules for a small town.
- 6,355 people, inside our sweet spot of 5,000 to 20,000: a real town, still one community.
- Reggio nell'Emilia, a city of 172,284, is 41 min by car. Inside our 30 to 60 minutes: close for the services, far enough to keep its own life.
- A station of its own. Trains are the overlooked way to get around Italy: no parking, straight into the center.
The rules come from our series Where to Move in Italy, written from the places we have lived: Part 1, The End of the Road · Part 2, The Small Town · Part 3, The City · Part 4, The Postcard · Part 5, The Other Half. The towns we would pick are in Part 6, The Best Towns.
- Population 6,355, down 3.3% since 2015
- Nearest city Reggio nell'Emilia, 41 min drive
- Train station in the comune
- Nearest national health service hospital Guastalla, 4 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €700 to €1,000 per m² to buy, €3.20 to €3.90 per m² a month to rent
Weighing a move here? See the moving year.
All the numbers Common questions, designations, lists and sources.
More about living here
- In-between
- Pharmacy: none mapped
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Full fibre reaches 88% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 3, low hazard
- Parma airport (PMF), 52 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Bologna, 1 h 22 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
11% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Pakistan, India and Romania, against 9% across Italy. There are 209 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 16% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Reggio Emilia province ranks 20th of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.
Health and schools
The nearest emergency room is in Guastalla, 4 km as the crow flies. The nearest major one is in Reggio nell'Emilia, 23 km away. The nearest children's emergency room is in Reggio nell'Emilia, 23 km away. The nearest IB school is International School of Modena, 43 km as the crow flies.
Information, not medical advice. Confirm with a professional.
Taxes
A home that is not your main one pays 1.03% a year in property tax at the 2025 rate, charged on the cadastral value rather than the price. A main home pays none unless it is in a luxury category. The town adds 0.8% to your income tax, with nothing due on income under €10,000. 7% pensioner tax: this town is not in a qualifying area.
Information, not tax advice. Confirm with a professional.
What it costs
The average household in Emilia-Romagna spends about €2,500 a month, €560 of it on food, against about €2,170 across Italy. A family of three pays about €604 a year for water, on the Emilia-Romagna average. In Reggio Emilia, the provincial capital, in September 2026, an espresso cost €1.27, a meal in a pizzeria €12.08 and a man's haircut €25.85.
Climate and risk
It is in climate zone E, on a scale from A, the warmest, to F, the coldest, and heating may run from October 15 to April 15, up to 14 hours a day, unless the mayor changes it. 2% of residents live in a zone the national maps rate high for floods, 100% in a high or medium one. They show no residents in a high landslide zone.
These shares cover the whole comune, not any one street. Check an address on IdroGEO.
Moving from abroad? Which visa you need. Sources: ISTAT, the Ministry of Health, ISPRA, the Finance Ministry, the Ministry of Enterprise, Poste Italiane, the comuni, the IB, International Schools Database, Il Sole 24 Ore, Cittadinanzattiva.
Known for
PIAZZA BENTIVOGLIO
Hundred-meter-square arcaded piazza with sixty-nine arches, the largest porticoed square in Emilia and the heart of the Bentivoglio reclamation project.
ANTONIO LIGABUE
The Naïf painter (1899-1965) lived and worked in poverty on the Po floodplain around Gualtieri; the museum holds the largest permanent collection of his work.
THE PO FLOODS
The 1951 Polesine flood reached 3.80 meters in Piazza Bentivoglio, marked on the keystones of the arches and visible from the square.
ANGURIA REGGIANA
The commune lies inside the Anguria Reggiana IGP production zone.
Common questions
- What is Gualtieri known for?
- Gualtieri is a right-bank Po commune in the Reggiana lowlands, built around a hundred-meter-square arcaded piazza and the Bentivoglio palace that holds the Ligabue collection.
- Where is Gualtieri?
- Gualtieri is a comune in the province of Reggio nell'Emilia, in Emilia-Romagna, at 22 meters above sea level.
- What is the nearest airport to Gualtieri?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Parma (PMF), about 52 min by car.
- Can you get to Gualtieri without a car?
- Yes. There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive by train.
- How long is the drive from Parma to Gualtieri?
- About 47 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Gualtieri?
- Best in Apr–Jun, Sep–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 32 degrees, and May the wettest, with about 13 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Gualtieri?
- San Benedetto Po, Busseto and Pizzighettone.
- How many people live in Gualtieri?
- 6,355 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Gualtieri a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Gualtieri is a small town that meets all 3 of our rules. The nearest city, Reggio nell'Emilia, is 41 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in Guastalla, 4 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 88% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Recognized as
The numbers
- Elevation: 22 m
- Population: 6,355
- Surface area: 35.65 km²
These figures were compiled from public directories: ISTAT, OpenStreetMap and Wikidata, and from the official listings of the guides named on this page. Town details change; verify with official sources before you travel.
The ranked lists
Lists Gualtieri appears in
- The best hidden towns you can reach by train in Emilia-RomagnaEmilia-Romagnaby trainhidden7 towns · smallest 3,770 residents
- The best towns known for what they grow within 75 minutes of ParmaNear Parmawithin 75 minproduce zone7 towns · smallest 1,700 residents · closest 40 min away
- The best towns you can reach by train within 75 minutes of ParmaNear Parmaby trainwithin 75 min10 towns · smallest 3,770 residents · closest 4 min away
Similar
Towns like Gualtieri
What all six share with Gualtieri: in the Po valley · between 3,000 and 10,000 people · near sea level
San Benedetto Po
Province: Mantova
both have a railway station in the comune
Busseto
Province: Parma
both have a railway station in the comune
Pizzighettone
Province: Cremona
both have a railway station in the comune
Montagnana
Province: Padova
both have a railway station in the comune
Sabbioneta
Province: Mantova
Fontanellato
Province: Parma
1 h 3 min apart by road
The letter
Gualtieri is on our list. Its letter is still to come.
We are writing about all 1,000 of these towns, one at a time, in a free letter: the photo, what is worth eating, and when to turn up. That is our mission. Sign up and you will be there when Gualtieri comes up. By Peter & Sophia, from Turin.
The nearest town we have written up is Fivizzano, 84 km away. Read its letter →
Paid plans, the moving year and the books are on the membership page.