Village of stradella

The Village of Stradella, in the province of Pavia (most likely of Roman origins), is located on via Postumia.

The Fortress of Montalino, which stands on top of a hill in a secluded position, is currently private residence, with differently shaped and structured windows and a sixteenth-century loggia closed following the construction of a veranda.

At the end of 1100 the basilica of S. Marcello in Montalino was built, an important Romanesque-style monument. The scene of clashes between the people of Piacenza and Pavia, towards the end of the 1200s the village was looted and burned so that, in 1300 , the Bishop Guido di Langosco ordered massive brick defence walls one mile long  to be built. Subsequently, the Visconti family ordered the lower fortress to be built, which was later demolished to open the market square, the present-day Piazza Vittorio Veneto, and with it the trade of agricultural products, including fine wine and the fabrics woven and dyed in the town. In the square, spared from the armed revolution, the imposing symbol of Stradella, the Civic Tower, still stands today: the only direct evidence of the ancient fortified city.

Not far from the crenelated tower, you can also see the town hall, the 17th-century Palazzo Isimbardi, and the parish from the same era, dedicated to Saints Nabor and Felix. Be sure to visit the museums of Stradella: the Accordion Museum, named after Mariano Dallapè, who , in 1876, established his first workshop in Stradella for the construction of accordions, and the Natural History Museum with its sections on botany , ecology, environment , but more importantly, geology and palaeontology with finds from the area.