PARMA

The city is located in the northern area of the Emilia-Romagna region, along the Via Emilia, between the Po valley, the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines and the Ligurian coast behind it, in a strategic position that allows you to quickly reach destinations of interest touristic and cultural.

Its centre, full of artistic masterpieces, spacious green areas, small and large treasures from different eras, welcomes visitors and citizens in a refined atmosphere of a small capital. The presence of music in the history of the city is varied and richly known, as well as being famous for Giuseppe Verdi and Arturo Toscanini, the liveliness of initiative and collective passion rightfully assign it an important place among the capitals of music. The gastronomic tradition is also very remarkable, offering, besides cold cuts and cheese which are famous all over the world, first courses of homemade pasta cooked in different ways. In 2015, Parma was designated as a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy.

The historical centre of Parma is divided into three big parts:

Piazza Garibaldi, that was in part the site of the Roman forum, and where the centre of the Municipality is located. There is also the Governor’s palace, with its Baroque tower, which houses the bell of the high civic tower that collapsed in 1606, the crowned Virgin in the niche of the bell tower and the two sun-dials dating back to 1829.

Piazza Duomo, where the highest artistic and religious expressions of the city stand, such as the Cathedral dedicated to the Assumption, which is among the main representative Romanesque buildings of the Padana region, started around the year 1059 and consecrated in 1106; the Baptistery, a symbol of the passage from the late Romanesque to Gothic era, made of pink marble from Verona, started in 1196 and finished in 1307 and the Bishop’s palace, dating back to the 11th – 12th century. Re-arranged many times, the present version dates back to the beginning of the 20th century.

Piazza della Pilotta is the symbol of ducal power with the Monumental Pilotta palace, an ancient palace of the court and state services belonging to the Farnese family. The rooms host the Archaeological Museum, Petitot gallery of Palatina Library, the National Gallery, the Farnese Theatre and the Bodoni Museum. Among the places to visit, not to be missed is the marvelous Camera di San Paolo with frescoes by Correggio. The city’s flower symbol, the violet, particularly loved by the Duchess Marie Louise of Austria, is now a famous perfume and a delicious frosted candy, the right gifts to purchase as a souvenir from Parma. Created and launched in 1870 by Lodovico Borsari who gave his name to a renowned perfume factory, the violet of Parma became a cult in fashion, literature and the imagery of the city. The Glauco Lombardi Museum is dedicated in large part to the duchess. One of the most important Italian collections of puppet theater is in the Castello dei Burattini, a delightful museum that will make young and old fall in love with it.