This town is located along the ancient via Postumia, that once connected Genoa to Aquileia, now called via Emilia Pavese.
The history of the town is traditionally associated with St. Rocco (Rocco from Montpellier), who found shelter in this place.
The lower Po valley welcomes visitors during every season: in autumn with warm colors, in winter with fog, during the spring with various shades of green, in the summer with a lot of sounds such as chirping crickets, threshing tractors, and running water irrigating the fields.
In the ancient part of the town stands the Castle of medieval origin; as in every small village the religious architecture is flanked by civil architecture: in Sarmato there are the "Church of S. Maria Assunta", interesting for religious pilgrimages, the church and the "Grotta of S. Rocco", where it's thought the pilgrim found shelter, and the "Santuario of the Madonna di Caravaggio" on the road to Borgonovo Val Tidone.
Alongside the typical Piacenza courses there are specialties of the river region such as marinated eels, catfish, and fried frogs.
At the end of May, the "Festa del Salame" takes place in an area that has known how to make use of pork since the time of the Gauls.
A few kilometers from Castel San Giovanni, Sarmato opens up towards the hills of Val Tidone representing a contact point between them and the area of the Po river.
