Mercato di Campagna — Farmers' Market at Ex Macello
Every Saturday morning, local producers from the Po Plain and the Piacenza Apennines set up stalls inside and around the former slaughterhouse complex on Via Mazzini, turning it into the most flavour-packed few hours of the week. This is where you buy the real thing: PDO Piacentino cheeses, hand-tied coppa, and jars of mostarda that taste nothing like the supermarket version.
What to Buy
The three DOP cured meats of Piacenza — coppa piacentina, pancetta piacentina and salame piacentino — are all available here directly from the norcini who make them. Ask for a sliver to taste before you buy; no one will refuse you.
Look for stalls selling Grana Padano aged on farms just outside the city, alongside younger Piacentinu and fresh squacquerone. A wedge of 24-month Grana with a small pot of local acacia honey makes a perfect picnic for later in the day.
The Atmosphere
The Ex Macello building itself is worth a look — a late 19th-century industrial structure with tall arched windows that floods the market floor with northern light on clear mornings. Food photographers routinely make the pilgrimage here.
Arrive before 9 am if you want the best selection and a chance to chat with producers before the crowds thicken. By 11 am the car park fills up and the best coppa is long gone.
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