Surely you remember a series of films from the 50s (often broadcast on TV even today), whose protagonists, Don Camillo, representative of Jesus Christ, and Mayor Peppone& lt; /STRONG>, a faithful follower of the Communist Party, were relentless rivals who were baffling. Their lives and adventures were closely linked to the country where they lived. And here is a small problem because in the film the story of Don Camillo and Peppone takes place in Brescello, while the author of the book, Guareschi, set it in Roncole Verdi. And so if you want to be objective, you have to talk about both of us.

Let's start from Roncole Verdi, the town of origin of Guareschi, located a few kilometers from Busseto, in the Po Valley. To those who are talking about music, this name sounds familiar, because right here Giuseppe Verdi was born, whose birthplace, renovated and furnished with period furniture that recreates the atmosphere of the time, is the destination of thousands of visitors a year. Another place linked to Verdi (Don Camillo's favorite composer, but also by Guareschi himself) is the small church of San Michele where he was baptized and where he was practicing the organ that can be seen inside the church. Next to the church is the small cemetery where Giovannino Guareschi is buried, and on Sunday, before Mass, it is easy to meet the children Alberto and Carlotta at the tomb of his father.

You can also have a coffee at the bar opened by Giovannino Guareschi in 1964 and find the headquarters of the Club dei Ventitré, home of the permanent anthological exhibition “The whole world of Guareschi” and the archive concerning the writer and his works. The tour to Roncole Verdi ends here, as it is a small town, and so we move to Brescello, the film town of Don Camillo.