The spectacular castle that fascinated Giorgio Armani, the ghost of the chef and the restaurant where the designer ate

Since last week, the famous designer Giorgio Armani rests next to his parents and brother in the cemetery of a small town in northern Italy .

On the slopes of Val Trebbia, a valley that stretches across the regions of Emilia-Romagna and Liguria, lies Rivalta, a village in the Piacenza area . It's the place Armani had a strong connection to—he was born in Piacenza in 1934—and where he loved to take a break from his busy life.

The designer was particularly fascinated by the Rivalta Castle (a 20-minute drive from Piacenza), a spectacular noble mansion surrounded by a large park and owned by Count Orazio Zanardi Landi , president of the Castelli del Ducato Association (which safeguards several palaces and castles in the provinces of Parma and Piacenza, Emilia-Romagna, as treasures of history).

"Giorgio Armani had a special affection for our village of Rivalta, where he loved to relax," Count Zanardi Landi remarked. He recalls that, in a sort of ritual, every time they met, Armani would ask him, "Will you sell me the castle?" The Count always had the same answer: he would only sell it if necessary.

This is how he recalls his encounters with the designer, who also had his peculiarities. For example, he didn't like being photographed near the count because he had a "height complex." What's more, when he organized his nephew's wedding, Armani ordered barriers to be erected in the village, which the count then quickly removed.

Rivalta Castle is owned by the Zanardi Landi family, a family name with centuries of history in the area: at the beginning of the 1300s, Obizzo Landi bought the ruins of the castle from the local family that occupied it and rebuilt it as a fortress.

This jewel of history and architecture is currently open to the public for both sightseeing and social events .

Visitors can tour many of the 50 rooms with period furniture , including the Arms Room, the sacred art museum, the exploration museum, and the military customs museum. All tours are guided, as the family still lives in the castle.

Like many of these old buildings, there's no shortage of ghost stories here. Like that of Pedro Zanardi Landi, one of the castle's former heirs who was murdered—allegedly as part of an inheritance dispute with Galván Landi—and his spirit haunted the halls and rooms until the castle returned to a branch of his family at the end of the 19th century.

Another ghost that lurks around is that of Joseph, the family cook in the 1700s, murdered by the butler , who wanted revenge because the cook had harassed his wife.

In Rivalta is the Locanda del Falco, a restaurant much loved and frequented by the designer , a place brimming with familiarity and authenticity, for lunch or dinner.

"Today I say goodbye to Mr. Armani, the discreet and kind man who one day, many years ago, gave Rina, my mother, a small lampshade to soften the light in the small room where he loved to be received, here in Rivalta," Sabrina, the owner of the Locanda, posted on the establishment's Instagram account.

"Since then, perhaps as early as 1978, many of our decisions have taken his opinion into account , and over time, our admiration for the extraordinary creator of beauty has been infused with affection and discreet attention," he added.

Simone Fornasari, president of Visit Emilia's tourism department, commented: "Beyond the artist and his creative genius, we remember a man of extraordinary sensitivity , who knew how to preserve and recognize the value of his roots."

And he added: " His connection with Rivalta bears witness to that authentic and human dimension that no stage can ever replace. Now Armani ideally returns to those Trebbia stones that inspired his unmistakable greige (a mix of grey and sandy beige), a color that marked the history of fashion and has made his name eternal."

After an intimate ceremony in the church of San Martino, the designer was buried in the small cemetery of the medieval village , surrounded by the same ancient stones that, on each visit, made him dream of becoming, at least for a day, the owner of Rivalta Castle.