Corte di Giarola, Medieval monastery and courtyard in Collecchio, Italy

Corte di Giarola is a walled medieval rural court in Pontescodogna, a hamlet of Collecchio. Its buildings are grouped around a central courtyard, with the church of San Nicomede in the southwest corner; only portions of the Romanesque exterior wall survive, decorated with Lombard bands. The east wing holds exhibition and auditorium spaces, the south wing a 99-seat theatre, and the west wing, in the former stables, the Museo del Pomodoro and Museo della Pasta.

Between the 8th and 9th centuries, a nobleman named Ingo built this fortified garrison near a ford on the River Taro. It evolved over time into an agricultural monastery complex that maintained its presence in that strategic riverside location.

The court's name comes from the Latin glarea, the gravel deposited by the nearby Taro. The Museo del Pomodoro opened in 2010 in the former stables of the west wing, and the Museo della Pasta followed in 2014 in the old pasta factory and mill. Both belong to the Musei del Cibo of Parma. The Teatro alla Corte, a 99-seat hall, was inaugurated in September 2007 in the south wing, once a woodshed and store.

The complex lies in the hamlet of Pontescodogna, part of Collecchio, and is the starting point for easy walks in the Parco del Taro. The former farmhouse outside the court was restored in 2005 as a historic laboratory. The south wing, once a woodshed and store, became the 99-seat Teatro alla Corte, inaugurated in September 2007.

The name Giarola comes from a Latin word referring to the gravel deposits that formed along the riverbanks where it stands. This etymological detail reminds visitors of the natural geography that has always defined this location.