Borgo San Donnino

Borgo San Donnino grew on the site of the Roman town of Fidentia, between Parma and Piacenza. Its medieval church commemorates Saint Domninus, from whom the town took its name. Destroyed by troops from Parma in 1268, the settlement was rebuilt around the turn of the fourteenth century.

Earlier, Frederick II had freed the town from Parma in 1221, before its later destruction. The Visconti of Milan held Borgo San Donnino intermittently from 1346 to 1447. Their successors, the Sforza, conquered it in 1449 and kept it until 1499. The town then passed through further changes of government before becoming part of the Duchy of Parma and Piacenza in 1556. Its position between these larger cities had long made it a prize in the struggles of the Po Valley.