On Route 9, 15 km from Fidenza. The lethargic country town dreams of past greatness. A dilapidated castle recalls the Pallavicini lords who in the 1100s claimed all the territory between the Apennines and the Po. On the outskirts stands Sant’ Agata, the modest country house of Giuseppe Verdi, and at Villa Pallavicini, the civic museum, are Verdi memorabilia. This composer, who aroused such fervour in 19thC Italy – the nationalist movement keeping step with his rise to fame – was born in 1813 at Roncole, 6 km down the road to Parma. The Italian custom is to add a great celebrity’s name to his birthplace, as in Sasso Marconi, Caprese Michelangelo, Torre del Lago Puccini – so Roncole is now Roncole Verdi. Villagers take the honour calmly.  Verdi pilgrims may want to visit his birthplace, now a cottage-museum.