Società Agricola CortedelBoiardo
Organic Farm and
Parmigiano Reggiano
SlowFood presidium
We raise a limited number of cattle on extensive farm pasture like in the old times.
Our History
Società Agricola CortedelBoiardo, eccellenza biologica.
Thanks to a fortunate series of events, the history of our farm is documented as far back as the early 15th century. It was originally one of the properties owned by Giroldo Fiordibelli, a notary from Reggio Emilia, and his wife, Antonia Boiardi (of the Boiardi family of Scandiano).
Deeply religious and childless, the couple bequeathed the farm and other assets to the Curia of Reggio Emilia upon their deaths in 1450. The Curia used the farm’s revenues to establish the *Fabbrica del Duomo* (Cathedral Works Board) and to finance the renovation and embellishment of the Reggio Emilia Cathedral. A chapel within the cathedral is dedicated to the Fiordibelli couple; furthermore, a gilded statue of the Madonna and Child by Bartolomeo Spani (1522)—featuring the couple depicted in prayer on either side—was later installed on the cathedral’s façade.
When the Curia no longer required the farm, ownership passed successively to the Boiardi family, the Counts Spalletti di San Donnino, the industrialist Davoli from Milan, and finally the Rota family of Arceto.Over these six centuries, the estate has retained its original size and even some of its original buildings.
The farm’s history also offers a sobering lesson: a farm that in the 16th century could support—albeit modestly—over 100 workers and fund the restoration of the city’s cathedral is today barely sufficient to sustain the owner and just three or four workers.
Despite the passage of six centuries and the vast changes that have swept through the agricultural sector—and indeed most farms dedicated to Parmigiano Reggiano production—a unique feature of this estate is that everything remains exactly as it was 600 years ago. The farm raises a small number of Red Reggiana and White Modenese cattle; thanks to the small herd size and the farm's vast acreage, the animals are always free to graze, leading the most natural life possible providing the absolute best milk of the region and so even the best Parmigiano Reggiano.
