Originally Posted by CliffordK

There are a number of castles, walled cities, etc, around Parma, and much of Italy.

I visited Italy in the early 80's with my parents where I bought my Colnago road bike. And, did quite a few day trips around the city. Cannosa was one of the further and hillier trips.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canossa_Castle
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walk_to_Canossa
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_..._Roman_Emperor

It wasn't until about 5 years later the topic came up in a history course about Henry IV and Pope Gregory VII when I realized that I had been there.

Yet, that might also be a minor side trip in a country that was in the middle of European history of the time.