The Autostrada A15 or Autostrada della Cisa ("Cisa motorway") is an ''

autostrada The ''autostrade'' (; : ''autostrada'', ) are roads forming the Italian national system of motorways. The total length of the system is about , as of 30 July 2022. There are also 13 motorway spur routes, which extend for . Most of the Itali ...

'' (

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

for "

motorway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway, and expressway. Other similar terms ...

") long in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

located in the

regions In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

Emilia-Romagna Emilia-Romagna (, , both , ; or ; ) is an Regions of Italy, administrative region of northern Italy, comprising the historical regions of Emilia (region), Emilia and Romagna. Its capital is Bologna. It has an area of , and a population of 4.4 m ...

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of 3,660,834 inhabitants as of 2025. The capital city is Florence. Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, artistic legacy, and its in ...

and

Liguria Liguria (; ; , ) is a Regions of Italy, region of north-western Italy; its Capital city, capital is Genoa. Its territory is crossed by the Alps and the Apennine Mountains, Apennines Mountain chain, mountain range and is roughly coextensive with ...

connecting

Parma Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...

and

La Spezia La Spezia (, or ; ; , in the local ) is the capital city of the province of La Spezia and is located at the head of the Gulf of La Spezia in the southern part of the Liguria region of Italy. La Spezia is the second-largest city in the Liguria ...

through the valleys of the

Taro Taro (; ''Colocasia esculenta'') is a root vegetable. It is the most widely cultivated species of several plants in the family Araceae that are used as vegetables for their corms, leaves, stems and Petiole (botany), petioles. Taro corms are a ...

and

Magra __NOTOC__ The Magra is a long river of Northern Italy, which runs through Pontremoli, Filattiera, Villafranca in Lunigiana and Aulla in the province of Massa-Carrara (Tuscany); Santo Stefano di Magra, Vezzano Ligure, Arcola, Sarzana and ...

rivers. It is a part of the E33 European route. The road is also known as Autostrada della Cisa because it crosses the Northern Apennines at the

Cisa Pass The Cisa Pass or La Cisa Pass is a mountain pass in Italy that marks the division between the Ligurian and Tuscan Apennines. It is located on the border between northern Tuscany (Province of Massa-Carrara) and Emilia-Romagna (Province of Parma) ...

. The main 101-km expanse of the motorway connects the Autostrada A1 with the Autostrada A12, thus directly linking the

Po Valley The Po Valley, Po Plain, Plain of the Po, or Padan Plain (, , or ) is a major geographical feature of northern Italy. It extends approximately in an east-west direction, with an area of including its Venetian Plain, Venetic extension not actu ...

with the

Italian Riviera The Italian Riviera or Ligurian Riviera ( ; ) is the narrow coastal strip in Italy which lies between the Ligurian Sea and the mountain chain formed by the Maritime Alps and the Apennines. Longitudinally it extends from the border with F ...

and the

Versilia Versilia is a part of Tuscany in the north-western province of Lucca and is named after the Versilia river. Known for fashionable Riviera resorts, it consists of numerous clubs that are frequented by local celebrities. Is composed by the four terr ...

region. The Autostrada A15 is operated by the company . At the 9-km mark, drivers are welcomed by a curious monument, a tuft of steel and cement sculpted by Luigi Magnani and placed in the traffic island between the two carriageways. The monument is visible to motorists coming from the A1.

History

The first phase of this

, dating to the 1950s, was designed to provide an alternative route between the Po Valley and the coastal

Tyrrhenian Sea The Tyrrhenian Sea (, ; or ) , , , , is part of the Mediterranean Sea off the western coast of Italy. It is named for the Tyrrhenians, Tyrrhenian people identified with the Etruscans of Italy. Geography The sea is bounded by the islands of C ...

. The construction required several

viaduct A viaduct is a specific type of bridge that consists of a series of arches, piers or columns supporting a long elevated railway or road. Typically a viaduct connects two points of roughly equal elevation, allowing direct overpass across a wide ...

s and

tunnel A tunnel is an underground or undersea passageway. It is dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, or laid under water, and is usually completely enclosed except for the two portals common at each end, though there may be access and ve ...

s to attain the maximum altitude of 745 metres above sea level at the entrance of the tunnel crossing. Built as a dual carriageway (divided highway), it is very curvilinear and challenging to drive and, therefore, has long been used for testing new heavy duty vehicles. Except for short stretches of the highway, the

road surface A road surface (British English) or pavement (North American English) is the durable surface material laid down on an area intended to sustain vehicular or foot traffic, such as a road or walkway. In the past, gravel road surfaces, macadam, ...

is not

porous Porosity or void fraction is a measure of the void (i.e. "empty") spaces in a material, and is a fraction of the volume of voids over the total volume, between 0 and 1, or as a percentage between 0% and 100%. Strictly speaking, some tests measure ...

or fitted with

storm drain A storm drain, storm sewer (United Kingdom, U.S. and Canada), highway drain, surface water drain/sewer (United Kingdom), or stormwater drain (Australia and New Zealand) is infrastructure designed to drain excess rain and ground water from i ...

s, making it difficult to negotiate during heavy rain.

Route

The motorway begins from the A1, near

. From the Parma Ovest (West Parma) exit the highway climbs through the Taro Valley with exits to

Fornovo di Taro Fornovo di Taro () is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the province of Parma, in the Italy, Italian region Emilia-Romagna, located about west of Bologna and about southwest of Parma. The town lies on the east bank of the Taro (river), Taro River. ...

, Borgotaro and the village of

Berceto Berceto ( Parmigiano: , or ; ) is a village and ''comune'' in Italy, located in the Apennine Mountains on the main road between La Spezia and Parma, in the Taro River valley, in the region of Emilia-Romagna Emilia-Romagna (, , both , ; o ...

, all within the

region. After traversing the tunnel, the highway continues into

, with exits to

Pontremoli Pontremoli (; local ; ; ) is a small city, ''comune'' former Latin Catholic bishopric in the province of Massa and Carrara, Tuscany region, central Italy. Literally translated, Pontremoli means "Trembling Bridge" (from ''ponte'' "bridge" and ''tre ...

and

Aulla Aulla is a ''comune'' in the province of Massa and Carrara, Tuscany, central Italy. It is located in the valley of the Magra, River Magra. Geology In 1977, the Italian geologist Augusto Azzaroli discovered a series of mammal rests with a correl ...

. Shortly after entering

it intersects the A12 at

Santo Stefano di Magra Santo Stefano di Magra (, Lunigiana, Lunigiano ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of La Spezia in the Italy, Italian region Liguria, located about southeast of Genoa and about northeast of La Spezia. It is located near the confluenc ...

, a few kilometres from

. There are five service stations and

rest area A rest area is a public facility located next to a large thoroughfare such as a motorway, Limited-access road, expressway, or highway, at which drivers and passengers can rest, eat, or refuel without exiting onto secondary roads. Other names ...

s along the way.

Santo Stefano di Magra connection

Lerici connection

Proposed construction

A plan to extend the motorway route to the north through

Fontevivo Fontevivo (Parmigiano: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Parma in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna, located about northwest of Bologna and about northwest of Parma. As of 9 October 2011, Fontevivo had a population of 5,428 and ...

, Martignana di Po and Nogarole Rocca, linking to the A22 (the ''Autobrennero'') around

Verona Verona ( ; ; or ) is a city on the Adige, River Adige in Veneto, Italy, with 255,131 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region, and is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and in Northeast Italy, nor ...

, has been proposed. Land has been secured both for straightening the present route through the construction of new viaducts and tunnels and for the proposed extension. The town of

Villafranca in Lunigiana Villafranca in Lunigiana is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Massa and Carrara in the Italian region Tuscany, located about northwest of Florence and about northwest of Massa. It is located on the Via Francigena, and has maintained ...

and neighbouring municipalities have petitioned for opening such a new toll motorway. Negotiations have begun with private motorway companies and the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport.

Notes

External links

Autocisa S.p.A.

{{Autostrade A15 Transport infrastructure completed in 1975 1975 establishments in Italy Transport in Emilia-Romagna Transport in Liguria