The Regional Park of the Cedra and Parma Valleys, better known as the Hundred Lakes Park, occupies a portion of the eastern Parma Apennines, on the border with the provinces of Reggio-Emilia and Massa-Carrara. The presence of the different altitude bands (from 400 to 1650 m asl) guarantees a remarkable variety of environments and a high degree of biodiversity. An environment that is still intact, where for centuries nature has been combined with man's life, to give life to agri-food excellences known and appreciated all over the world such as Parmigiano-Reggiano DOP and Parma Ham DOP. A welcoming "middle ground" between the Parma plain and the peaks of the ridge of the Tuscan-Emilian Apennine National Park.

The Environment

Born in 1995 as the Crinale Park of the upper Parma and Cedra valleys, following the establishment (2001) and expansion (2010) of the Tuscan-Emilian Apennine National Park, this protected natural area has reconfigured its territory and changed its "mission": No longer just the protection of the splendid summit environments, rich in nature and almost completely uninhabited, but rather the enhancement of the rural mid-mountain landscape, still well preserved and rich in biodiversity, agriculture, typical products, culture and tourism. An area where people live, work… live!

The recent redefinitions of the perimeter have increased the extension of the park which, having entrusted the protection of the ridge areas to the nearby National Park, has been transformed into a more composite and varied reality, which extends more towards the valley. Among the real park areas of the upper Cedra valley (Monchio delle Corti), with its slopes shaped by the Quaternary glaciations, the beech woods and the high altitude grasslands, the Monte Caio area has been added (1,584 m), which rises along the ridge between the upper Cedra and Parma valleys, of floristic interest due to the presence of various thermophilic plants including Cirsium bertolonii (an endemic species of the northern Apennines), oak and chestnut groves, interrupted only by meadows and pastures, historic villages and small inhabited centers suspended in time characterize the wild Val Bratica, birthplace of the great poet Attilio Bertolucci, dominated by the splendid "natural balcony" of Monte Navert (1657 m asl) . There is no shortage of important areas for fauna, which includes particularly rare and protected species such as the Apennine wolf and the Golden Eagle.

At lower altitudes, the contiguous area, which has more than tripled compared to 1995, has included large portions of agricultural landscape linked to the production of Parmigiano-Reggiano and Parma Ham, where stable and medical meadows follow one another, framed by small woods, hedges and rows of fruit trees.

Natural treasures

The Golden Eagle
Perhaps the most important characteristic of the golden eagle, such as to make it the best emblem for flags of all times, is that of fidelity.
Together for life, male and female golden eagles conquer a territory, where they remain for years, building a plurality of nests and choosing the most suitable one year after year.
A great hunter, the golden eagle can lift rather heavy prey, mostly rodents or other small mammals. Contrary to popular belief, the golden eagle does not build its nest on the highest peaks, but around 2000 m, where it finds the best conditions in terms of relative abundance of prey.

A large bird of prey, the golden eagle can reach 87 centimeters in length, with a wingspan that can touch 220 cm (the tail alone in the species can measure over 30 cm). The plumage is quite uniform, in various shades of brown and chestnut. Only the garment has golden streaks, a fact that explains the Latin (or rather Greek) origin of the name, which literally translates as "Golden Eagle". There are many subspecies of golden eagle present in Europe. Chrysaetos has the largest range, being present from Western Europe to Siberia. 
Other subspecies divide the globe between North Africa and Asia Minor, the Americas and the rest of Asia. In Italy it is present mainly in the Alps, with important nesting areas along the Apennine belt, Sicily and eastern Sardinia. (Source: www.lipu.it )
Years of scientific research involving Park staff and LIPU volunteers have made it possible to learn more about the presence and behavior of this super-predator which has been nesting permanently in the Regional Park for several years.

In Casarola there is a birdwatching observatory, freely accessible, from which scholars, enthusiasts or simply curious, equipped with binoculars or a telescope, can observe the majestic flights of the Golden Eagle.
 
The relict stations of silver fir, spruce and yew 
The rare spontaneous nucleuses of these three species that are encountered in the beech woods of the park, where majestic centuries-old specimens are kept, represent the relics of much more extensive woods that covered the Apennine hills in remote times.
Their history is linked to the alternating climatic conditions that occurred on these mountains after the last glaciation, which favored the formation of silver fir and later spruce forests, while the current climate, suited to beech, has caused the gradual regression of these conifers. Even the exploitation by man of the precious fir timber has accelerated the natural decline of these species. 
The relict nucleuses protected in the park conserve a unique and original genetic heritage, useful to scholars for reconstructing the natural history of these places, and are a precious reservoir of biological diversity for the Apennine woods. For these reasons, the autochthonous conifer stations present in the protected area have been involved in two projects of the European Union (Life Natura). Genetic studies have also been carried out on the Apennine populations of fir trees, to verify their real autochthony, and forestry interventions to favor the conservation of the stations (conversion of the adjacent coppice beech woods to tall trees, selective thinning and renaturalization of artificial reforestation) .
In the Regional Park there are some interesting stations of these autochthonous species.

 

Flora
Along the slopes that rise from the valley floor up to 900-1,000 m, the vegetal landscape is more affected by the age-old presence of man: mixed deciduous woods governed by coppice for the production of wood alternate, first with arable land, then with stable meadows for mowing and grazing, marked by hedges, rows of trees and dry stone walls, more frequent around inhabited centres. 

 

On the cool slopes facing north in the mixed woods, of natural origin, Turkey oak and black hornbeam prevail, flanked by field maple, manna ash and rowan trees; downy oak is sporadic, a typical oak of sunny slopes.

 

Laburnum, hazelnut, hawthorn, blackthorn are frequent in the undergrowth and among the herbaceous plants the early blooms of primroses, hellebores, anemones, lungworts and violets abound; in summer the inflorescences of orchids and bluebells stand out.

 

The woods grown on the morainic debris were in the past replaced with fruit chestnut groves, which have undergone a slow abandonment since the post-war period, often transformed into coppices and gradually invaded by the plants of the original woods. 

 

In the park, however, well-kept chestnut groves survive around Bosco di Corniglio and between Casarola, Riana and Montebello, where the foliage of the chestnut trees shade a sparse undergrowth.

 

From 900-1,000 m up to 1,700 m the beech woods cover the mountain slopes, stopping at meadow clearings and rocky outcrops.

 

The cool, humid climate and the age-old exploitation of the beech woods have favored the almost exclusive development of this broad-leaved tree, which forms coppices in many cases converted into tall trees in recent decades.

 

In the most inaccessible points, the beech woods of the Park hold small relict nucleuses  and centuries-old specimens of silver, spruce and yew fir, relict testimony of much more extensive woods that covered the Apennine hills in remote times.

Their history is linked to the alternating climatic conditions that occurred on these mountains after the last glaciation, which favored the formation of silver fir and later spruce forests, while the current climate, suited to beech, has caused the gradual regression of these conifers.

Even the exploitation by man of the precious fir timber has accelerated the natural decline of these species. 

The relict nucleuses protected in the Park preserve a unique and original genetic heritage, useful to scholars for reconstructing the natural history of these places, and are a precious reservoir of biological diversity for the Apennine woods.

 

The blooms present in the Park are also abundant and spectacular, sometimes representing a real and incredibly rarity as in the case of the Primula apennina, an exclusive plant of the Parma and Reggio Emilia ridges which, shortly after the snow melts, characterizes the most inaccessible.

 

The banks of the high-altitude streams and some glacial basins of the upper Val Cedra preserve the vegetation and blooms typical of the wetlands.

 

In several cases the lake depressions that housed lakes have been filled with peat and have given life to that very precious and fragile ecosystem that is the peat bog.

Fauna
Among the symbolic species of the park, the Apennine wolf is certainly the one of greatest interest after this species, traditionally subjected to fierce persecution, has experienced a period of expansion in recent years. 

To positively influence the current presence were not the presumed non-existent immissions made by man, but rather the net increase in the populations of prey, especially ungulates, and the progressive depopulation of the mountains and the consequent abandonment of agricultural and forestry practices.

The improved environmental conditions have thus favored the wolf in its action of recolonizing the northern Apennines, having as its point of radiation the few areas of the central Apennines, where it has been able to survive the persecutions.

The roe deer, a typical species of less elevated environments, is present thanks to a series of past reintroductions and in recent years its density has significantly increased, while the most evident and widespread species is the wild boar, which is massively affected by hunting management which it has been subjected to for decades.

In the park, birds are, among the vertebrates, the group that includes the largest number of species, both sedentary and migratory, given that the Apennine passes represent obligatory points of transit for migratory birds. 

The Lagastrello pass (upper Val d'Enza) is affected by a considerable passage of falconiformes and columbiformes, while on the Cirone and Cisa passes (Val Parma and Baganza) the flow of passerines is concentrated.

The most significant and fascinating of the emergencies is the Golden Eagle which has been nesting in the few and precious rocky walls of the Park for several years. Among the birds of prey, honey buzzards, goshawks, sparrowhawks, buzzards, kestrels, hobbies and peregrine falcons certainly nest.

Typical of woodland ecosystems are scops owl, hoopoe and lesser spotted woodpecker. However, where the beech prevails, marsh tit, bullfinch and great spotted woodpecker are found, while in the artificial reforestation of conifers we should mention treecreeper, crested tit and eagle owl. 

Streams and, in some cases, high-altitude lakes are the habitat of the rare dipper, a species that loves areas with clear waters and fast currents.

The so-called "minor fauna" are all those animals, often forgotten or even mistreated, which nonetheless play a fundamental role in ecosystems. In fact, these species affect the majority of the Italian fauna, and concern the main components of the food chains and the organisms essential for the regulation of biological cycles.

Among the minor fauna, the micro-mammals are represented by shrews, voles (including the snow vole), common dormouse and dormouse. Also common are badger foxes (which prefer situations where meadows alternate with woods), weasels, beech martens and polecats.

Among the peach trees, the brown trout is now widely present in the streams and lakes of the park. 

Among the other amphibians present in the pools and near streams, we should mention crested newt, fire salamander, common toad, common frog and agile frog, which can be easily observed even in grassy and fresh areas, under rotting trunks and stones and in the undergrowth.

Among the reptiles there are field lizards and green lizards; the most widespread snake, and the only one that can represent a danger to humans, is the common viper.

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Geomorphology

The ancient glaciers of the Parma Apennines
The modeling processes that took place during the glaciations that took place in the Pleistocene (800,000-10,000 years ago), when extensive portions of the northern hemisphere were covered by ice, have left significant traces in the Apennine mountains.
Of the four glaciations that affected the chain, the last two, called Riss and Würm from the Alpine valleys that preserve their most significant forms, have left their mark on the Parma mountains. 
Del Riss, which took place around 200,000 years ago, the Regional Park preserves the only certain testimony of the northern Apennines: the blanket of morainic deposits, the heterogeneous and disorganized sediments transported by the glacial masses and then abandoned when they retreat, which covers the summit level of Monte Navert towards Pian del Freddo and up to Groppo Fosco.

On the other hand, the forms excavated by the ice and the morainic deposits of the Würm are extraordinarily evident throughout the eastern Parma ridge. 
All the stretches of water dotting these mountains occupy the bottom of depressions (glacial cirques) carved out by the ice of this period, often barred by the typical moraine cords. 

The most impressive was the glacier that descended along the Parma valley, fed by the tongues of the three branches that today form its head. Near the ridge, the glacier received the contribution of the head of the Cedra valley, reaching an overall width of almost 25 square km (the largest glacial apparatus in the entire northern Apennines). 

The Cedra valley glacier also achieved a notable development: from the feeding areas between the Sillara and Malpasso mountains, the main tongue descended as far as Monchio, where the lowest morainic deposits left by the Würmian glaciation are located.

The Flysch of Monte Caio
On the spectacular slopes of Monte Navert (1657 m asl) and Monte Caio (1584 m asl) emerges a rock formation which takes its name from the latter mountain massif: the Flysch of Monte Caio.

The Flysch is characterized by clear calcareous and calcareous-marly layers, alternating with thinner marly-clayey layers of a dark colour. 

The sandstones of the ridge
The main Apennine ridge, which in the upper area is protected by the Tuscan-Emilian Apennine National Park, is a few hundred meters from the southern borders of the Regional Park.

The ridge has a decidedly asymmetrical profile, largely due to the different position of the rock layers on the two sides.
The Tuscan side is steep and at times impressive due to the walls that appear to be cut into the sandstone layers, while the Emilian side is decidedly less steep and on the slopes that tend to line up along the layer surfaces, the most beautiful morphologies have been produced and then preserved. glaciers of all the Northern Apennines.
The reliefs of the ridge are entirely modeled in sandstones belonging to the Macigno Formation. The origin of these sandstones is linked to sedimentation in abyssal marine environments, which occurred between the end of the Oligocene and the beginning of the Miocene (30-25 million years ago ), on the deep seabed of the so-called foredeep basin, the basin that had been created in front of the embryonic Apennine corrugation, where the repetition of innumerable turbidite episodes led to the accumulation of about 1000 m of sandstone layers.

The ophiolites
On the south-west edge of the area contiguous to the Regional Park there is a very unique landscape, with steep hills such as Monte Sillara and Groppi Rossi (the latter now belonging to the Tuscan-Emilian Apennine National Park), which stand out on the clayey slopes of the wavy ridge between the Parma and Baganza torrents. 
The dark color of their bare slopes betrays their ophiolitic nature, a term that derives from the Greek ofios (snake) and refers to the variegated green-black color of the rock, which recalls the livery of these animals. In the context of the evolutionary history of the Apennines, they bear witness to the most ancient stages, when the Ligurian Ocean still extended in place of the chain, whose seabed, as in the current oceans, was formed by basic rocks, i.e. poor in silica and with abundant iron and magnesium minerals, which included volcanic (basalt) and plutonic (gabbro and peridotite) portions.
The ophiolites that emerge in the park are incorporated in a complex of sedimentary rocks from the Upper Cretaceous, which was deposited 95-90 million years ago on deep seabeds.

Landscapes

The territory of the Park and its contiguous area, thanks to its considerable extension, includes hilly environments (450 m asl) in correspondence with the valley floor of the Parma torrent, but also mountain massifs of all relief located close to the main Apennine ridge and on the secondary ridges which detach perpendicularly from it (1500/1600 m asl).
For these reasons, the Park is a mosaic of ever-changing landscapes in which the millennial coexistence between nature and human activities has given shape to balances that are not always easy, but very often truly pleasant and harmonious. 

From the green and agricultural hills to the mountainous areas where traces of the last glaciation are still evident (between 75,000 and 10,000 years ago), it is a succession of different environments, each with its own natural, cultural and landscape characteristics.

This variety of environments and altitude bands creates a very diversified landscape.

At lower altitudes, from a gentle agricultural landscape where arable land alternates with permanent meadows, surrounded by long hedges and mixed deciduous woods.

Going up in altitude, the forest cover increases, interrupted at times by meadows and meadows-pastures, dotted with small inhabited centers and crossed by a dense network of forest roads and footpaths.

The mountain ridges, arranged perpendicularly to the main ridge in a north-easterly direction, form a beautiful succession of small valleys, engraved by clear streams and dominated by some peaks which are real natural "balconies" (Mt. Caio 1584 m, M .te Navert 1657 m, M.te Torricella 1728 m, M.te Cervellino 1492 m).

The millenary presence of man and his activities (agricultural, housing, cultural, artistic, ...) is an integral part of the landscape, as well as historical-cultural, heritage of the Park.

Where the presence and activities of man are more significant, you can come across beautiful historic villages, ancient remains of imposing castles, Romanesque churches and parish churches.

Even where the intensity of man's work is less intense, the landscape is nonetheless characterized by significant and beautiful historical-cultural testimonies, such as the many majesty (marble votive tiles) that punctuate paths and fountains, the dry stone walls that they delimit roads and fields, small towns and scattered houses.

Where the historical environmental, climatic and accessibility conditions have led to a lower human presence, nature manifests itself in more "authentic" forms, giving life to spectacular landscapes and breathtaking panoramas, as well as isolated and "elusive" emergencies which are real rarities.
 
In these more natural areas, the need for protection becomes more urgent and they try to conserve habitats and individual rare and/or endangered species, often declared to be of community interest.

History, art and culture
The daily life of the mountaineers of these valleys, as harsh as in the rest of the Apennines, continued for centuries in peaceful isolation, which also offered the inhabitants undeniable advantages: the roughness of the places and the prolonged winters, for example, discouraged invasions and raids and the autonomy enjoyed by the territory made it possible to contain taxes and made exchanges (including smuggling) with Tuscany and the Este possessions easier.

Despite the occasional Palaeolithic and Etruscan finds, the climatic conditions and the rugged morphology of the eastern sector of the Parma Apennines have historically not favored settlements and the opening of important routes.

On the other hand, starting from the Middle Ages, the valleys of the Parma and Cedra streams were for centuries subjected to feudal institutions characterized by a strong autonomy.

The feud of Corniglio was transformed into a county by the Rossis, lords of Parma, who built an important castle in Bosco di Corniglio of which only a few ruins remain today. The power of the Rossis ended around the 1600s with the advent of the Duchy of the Farnese.

Monchio delle Corti, on the other hand, although linked to the bishops of Parma, was for centuries the protagonist of an original form of self-government extended to the upper Cedra valley and to limited portions of those of Bratica and Enza._cc781905-5cde-3194-bb3b- 136bad5cf58d_

The government of the 14 courts (Monchio, Casarola, Ceda, Grammatica, Lugagnano, Nirone, Pianadetto, Riana, Rigoso, Rimagna, Trefiumi, Valcieca, Valditacca, Vecciatica), which survived as an institution until the Napoleonic era, was entrusted to a podestà appointed bishop, which was based first in Rigoso and then in Monchio.

Of ancient origins, like Corniglio and Monchio, also the territory of Tizzano val Parma, a fertile and easily accessible area, was the site of a feud contested, in its history, between various families: from the Da Correggio, to the Fieschi, to the Pallavicino, to the Terzi, to the Sforza, to the Farnese, up to the Venturi, last lords of Tizzano and Ballone.
As evidence of the illustrious past, the evocative remains of the ancient castle remain at the top of the village, of which we have news starting from the 10th century.

Tizzano also represented a strategic place from the point of view of the ecclesiastical territorial organization: located along the ancient Via di Linari, one of the arteries of the Via Francigena, and seat of a Pievato, as an expression of which we meet, in a panoramic position, the Pieve di San Pietro Apostolo dating back to the 11th century
 
The paths towards the ridge, crossed by shepherds and flocks and by those who ventured on the opposite side to exchange the products of the valleys, were dotted with sacred images carved into slabs of white marble and framed by sandstone decorations._cc781905-5cde-3194- bb3b-136bad5cf58d_

Throughout the territory of the park "the majesty" are particularly numerous, even if sometimes forgotten and hidden and more often the object of shameful thefts, and are encountered almost everywhere, along the roadsides, inserted in the erratic boulders, along the paths that enter the woods and pastures, inside the inhabited centres.

They can be traced back to three basic typologies: majesty of houses, fountains and streets, according to whether they are placed on the walls of the houses, on the pediments of the fountains or, in the form of a newsstand, along the road network.

Even in the contemporary age the forms of artistic and cultural expression have left  in these valleys "signs" that are sometimes notable, such as for example the poetic works that the poet Attilio Bertolucci dedicated to Casarola (birthplace of father), or the pictorial works that the artist Walter Madoi left on the walls of the houses and in the Church of the small village of Sesta Inferiore in Corniglio, his "village of choice".

Local history and traditions
The Feuds of Corniglio and Tizzano and the Courts of Monchio

The valleys of the Parma and Cedra torrents, due to their eccentric position with respect to the city of Parma, were for centuries subjected to feudal institutions characterized by a strong autonomy.

The feud of Corniglio was transformed into a county by the Rossis, lords of Parma, to whom it remained until the early 1600s (when it became part of the ducal possessions of the Farnese). Monchio delle Corti, on the other hand, although linked to the bishops of Parma, was for centuries the protagonist of an original form of self-government extended to the upper Cedra valley and to limited portions of those of Bratica and Enza. The government of the 14 courts (Monchio, Casarola, Ceda, Grammatica, Lugagnano, Nirone, Pianadetto, Riana, Rigoso, Rimagna, Trefiumi, Valcieca, Valditacca, Vecciatica), which survived as an institution until the Napoleonic era, was entrusted to a podestà appointed bishop, which was based first in Rigoso and then in Monchio.

Of ancient origins, like Corniglio and Monchio, also the territory of Tizzano val Parma, a fertile and easily accessible area, was the site of a feud contested, in its history, between various families: from the Da Correggio, to the Fieschi, to the Pallavicino, to the Terzi, to the Sforza, to the Farnese, up to the Venturi, last lords of Tizzano and Ballone. As evidence of the illustrious past, the evocative remains of the ancient castle remain at the top of the village, of which we have news starting from the 10th century.
Tizzano also represented a strategic place from the point of view of the ecclesiastical territorial organization: located along the ancient Via di Linari, one of the arteries of the Via Francigena, and seat of a Pievato, as an expression of which we meet, in a panoramic position, the Pieve di San Pietro Apostolo dating back to the 11th century.