Guastalla, Italy (Emilia-Romagna): What to See, Eat & Stay

Guastalla has 14,786 inhabitants in the lower Reggio plain, a short way from the right bank of the Po. The name comes from the Lombard wardistall, which means guard post: it was a forward bastion against the Byzantines, who from Mantua pushed as far as here. The first time it appears in the records is in 864, when the emperor Louis II gave it to his wife Angilberga; in 1102 countess Matilda of Canossa handed it over to the monastery of San Sisto in Piacenza.

Its great season begins in 1539, when Ferrante Gonzaga bought the county for a little over twenty-two thousand gold scudi. The Gonzaga stayed two centuries and made it a capital: here were the mint — striking coin until 1746 — and the court that entertained Guercino, Tasso and Guarini, and in 1621 the county became a duchy. Of today's Guastalla, on the other hand, the name best known in the world is an acronym: SMEG, that is Smalterie Metallurgiche Emiliane Guastalla, the appliance company founded here in 1948 and still headquartered here.

The Guastalla guide

What to eat here 2

Tagliatelle al Ragù · Aceto Balsamico di Modena

Where to stay

Compare hotels, B&Bs and holiday homes on Booking.com for your dates.

Events & festivals 1

Next up: Saint Catherine of Alexandria, patron of the land of the Ducal Palace, Wednesday 25 November

Getting there

Nearest airport: Parma, 30 km away

🎉 Festivals and feasts in Guastalla 1

Patron saint festival In 40 days

Saint Catherine of Alexandria, patron of the land of the Ducal Palace

📅 Every year, on 25 November, with the Fiera di Santa Caterina; every 3 years in late May La Gnoccata is held

Guastalla celebrates Saint Catherine of Alexandria on 25 November, with the traditional Fiera di Santa Caterina. Every three years, at the end of May, La Gnoccata is celebrated, a folk feast dating back to the 19th century, while the Piante e Animali event is held every fourth week of September.

🍝 The flavours of Guastalla

Everything to eat in Guastalla →

🌿 Local produce IGP

Aceto Balsamico di Modena cooked grape must and wine vinegar, dense and sweet-and-sour

Cooked grape must and wine vinegar aged in wooden barrels: Aceto Balsamico di Modena has held Protected Geographical Indication status since 2009.

Near Guastalla

The closest destinations covered by our editors, with straight-line distance.

Gualtieri Reggio Emilia · 3 km Dosolo Mantua · 4 km

Pomponesco Mantua · 5 km

Luzzara Reggio Emilia · 6 km

Boretto Reggio Emilia · 9 km

Novellara Reggio Emilia · 10 km

Places to see within 25 km

Outside Guastalla, but an easy day trip away.

Città Alta and the Venetian Walls 📍 Bergamo · 18 km A 6,200-meter wall built by Venice in the 16th century, this UNESCO World Heritage site encloses Bergamo Alta. Accademia Carrara 📍 Bergamo · 17 km The count founded the gallery and the school together, so pupils could copy from life. Teatro Gaetano Donizetti 📍 Bergamo · 17 km The theatre born where wooden huts once stood, now Donizetti's home. basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore 📍 Bergamo · 18 km The church without a façade in Bergamo's upper town: Campione's lions and the intarsias designed by Lotto. chiesa dei Santi Bartolomeo e Stefano 📍 Bergamo · 17 km The lower Bergamo church with the Martinengo altarpiece, Lotto's largest. chiesa di Santo Spirito 📍 Bergamo · 17 km Bergamo church called «of the Tasso», with Lorenzo Lotto's 1521 altarpiece and the via Pignolo chapels.