Parma

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Parma

Parma is a city

City

A city is an urban area with a high population density and a particular administrative, legal, or historical status.Large industrialized cities generally have advanced systems for sanitation, utilities, land usage, house, and transportation and more....
in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna

Emilia-Romagna

Architecture

The term architecture can refer to a process, a profession or documentation.As a process, architecture is the activity of designing and construction buildings and other physical structures by a person or a computer, primarily to provide shelter....
and the fine countryside around it. It is the home of the University of Parma

University of Parma

The University of Parma is one of the oldest universities in the world, founded in the 11th century. It is organised in twelve faculties. The University of Parma has currently about 30,000 students....
, one of the oldest universities in the world. Parma is divided into two parts by the little stream with the same name. Parma takes its name from the roman round shield called Parma
Parma (shield)

Parma or parmula was a type of round shield used by Ancient Rome Military history of ancient Rome, especially during the later period of Roman Empire....
.

The Italian

Italian literature

Italian literature is literature written in the Italian language, particularly within Italy. It may also refer to literature written by Italian people or in Italy in other languages spoken in Italy, often languages that are closely related to modern Italian....
poet Attilio Bertolucci

Attilio Bertolucci

Attilio Bertolucci was an Italian poet and writer. He is father to film directors Bernardo Bertolucci and Giuseppe Bertolucci....
(born in a hamlet in the countryside) wrote: "As a capital city it had to have a river.

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Encyclopedia

Parma is a city

City

Emilia-Romagna

Architecture

University of Parma

Italian literature

Attilio Bertolucci

History

Prehistory

Parma was already a built-up area in the Bronze Age

Bronze Age

The Bronze Age is, with respect to a given prehistory, the period in that society when the most advanced metalworking included smelting copper and tin from naturally-occurring outcroppings of copper and tin ores, creating a bronze alloy by melting those metals together, and casting them into bronze artifact s....
. It has verified by now that in the current position of the city rose a "terramare". The "terramare" (Earthsea) were ancient villages in structural wood on pile-dwelling built according to a defined scheme and squared form, built on the dry land, generally in proximity of the rivers. During this age (among the 1500 BC and the 800 BC) the first necropolis

Necropolis

A necropolis is a large cemetery or burial place . Apart from the occasional application of the word to modern cemeteries outside large towns, the term...
es (placed where stand the present-day Piazza Duomo and Millstone Square) rose also.

Ancient age

The city was most probably founded and named by the Etruscans, for a parma (circular shield) was a Latin borrowing, as were many Roman terms for particular arms, and Parmeal, Parmni and Parmnial are names that appear in Etruscan inscriptions. Diodorus Siculus

Diodorus Siculus

Diodorus Siculus , was a Roman Greece historian who flourished in the 1st century BC. According to Diodorus' own work, he was born at Agira in Sicily ....
(XXII, 2,2; XXVIII, 2,1) reported that the Romans had changed their rectangular shields for round ones, imitating the Etruscans. Whether the Etruscan encampment was so named because it was round, like a shield, or whether its situation was a shield against the Gauls to the north, is uncertain.

The Roman

Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC....
colony was founded in 183 BC, together with Mutina (Modena

Modena

Modena is a city and a comune on the south side of the Padan Plain, in the Province of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy.An ancient town, it is the seat of an archbishop, but is now best known as "the capital of engines", since the factories of the famous Italian sports car makers Ferrari, De Tomaso, Lamborghini, Pagani and...
). 2000 families were settled. Parma had a certain importance as a road hub over the Via Aemilia

Via Aemilia

Via Aemilia was a trunk Roman road in the north Italian plain, running from Ariminum , on the Adriatic coast, to Placentia on the river Padus ....
and the Via Claudia. It had a forum, in what is today the central Garibaldi Square. In 44 BC, the city was destroyed, and Augustus rebuilt it. During the Roman Empire

Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the Roman Republic phase of the Ancient Rome, characterised by an autocracy form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
it gained the title of Julia for its loyalty to the imperial house.

The city was subsequently sacked by Attila, and later given by the barbarian king Odoacer

Odoacer

Odoacer , also known as Odovacar , was a Germanic general and the first non-Roman King of Italy after 476. He deposed the last Western Roman Emperor, Romulus Augustus, that year, but continued to rule first as a nominal client of Julius Nepos and, after Nepos' death in AD 480, as a client of the Eastern Roman Emperor....
to his fellows. During the Gothic War

Gothic War (535–552)

See Gothic War for the war on the Danube.The Gothic War was a war fought in Italian Peninsula and the adjoining regions of Dalmatia, Sardinia, Sicily and Corsica from 535 until 554 between the forces of the Eastern Roman Empire and the forces of the Ostrogothic Kingdom....
, however, Totila

Totila

Totila was king of the Ostrogoths from 541 until his death. He waged the Gothic War against the Byzantine Empire for the mastery of Italy. Most of the historical evidence for Totila consists of chronicles by the Byzantine historian Procopius, who accompanied the Byzantine general Belisarius during the Gothic War....
destroyed it. It was then part of the Byzantine

Byzantine Empire

Byzantine Empire and Eastern Roman Empire are conventional names used to describe the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages, centered on its capital of Constantinople....
Exarchate of Ravenna

Exarchate of Ravenna

The Exarchate of Ravenna or of Italy was a centre of Byzantine Empire power in Italy, from the end of the 6th century to 751, when the last Exarch was put to death by the Lombards....
(changing name to Chrysopolis, "Golden City", probably due to the presence of the army's treasure) and, from 569, of the Lombard

Lombards

The Lombards were a Germanic peoples originally from Northern Europe who settled in the valley of the Danube and from there invaded Byzantine Italian peninsula in 568 under the leadership of Alboin....
Kingdom of Italy. During the Middle Ages, Parma became an important stage of the Via Francigena

Via Francigena

The Via Francigena is an ancient road between Rome and Canterbury, passing through England, France, Switzerland and Italy. It was an important medieval road and Pilgrimage connecting north-western Europe with Rome....
, the main road connecting Rome to Northern Europe: several castles, hospitals and inns were built in the following centuries to host the increasing number of pilgrims.

Middle Ages

Under the Frankish

Franks

The Franks or Frankish people were a West Germanic ethnic group first identified in the 3rd century as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River....
rule, Parma became the capital of a county (774). Like most northern Italian cities, it was nominally a part of the Holy Roman Empire

Holy Roman Empire

The Holy Roman Empire was a union of territories in Central Europe during the Middle Ages and the Early modern Europe under a Holy Roman Emperor....
created by Charlemagne

Charlemagne

Charlemagne was List of Frankish kings from 768 to his death. He expanded the Franks kingdoms into a Carolingian Empire that incorporated much of Western Europe and Central Europe....
, but locally ruled by its bishops, the first being Guidobus. In the subsequent struggles between the Papacy

Papal States

The Papal States, State of the Church or Pontifical States were one of the major historical states of Italy from roughly the 6th century until the Italian peninsula was unified in 1861 by the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia ....
and the Empire, Parma was usually a member of the Imperial party. Two of its bishops became antipope

Antipope

An antipope is a person who, in opposition to a sitting Bishop of Rome, makes a widely accepted claim to be the Pope. In the past, antipopes were typically those supported by a fairly significant faction of cardinal and kingdoms....
s: Càdalo, founder of the cathedral, as Honorius II

Antipope Honorius II

Honorius II , born Peter Cadalus, was an antipope from 1061 to 1072. He was born at Verona and became bishop of Parma in 1046. He died at Parma in 1072....
); and Guibert, as Clement III

Antipope Clement III

Guibert or Wibert of Ravenna was a cleric made Antipope in 1080 due to perceived abuses of Pope Gregory VII during the Investiture Controversy, a title that lasted unto his death....
). An almost independent commune

Medieval commune

Communes in Europe during the Middle Ages were sworn allegiances of mutual defense among the citizens of a town or city. They took many forms, and varied widely in organization and makeup....
was created around 1140. After the Peace of Constance

Peace of Constance

The Peace of Constance of 1183 was signed in Konstanz by Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor and representatives of the Lombard League. It confirmed the Peace of Venice of 1177....
(1183), quarrels with the neighbouring communes of Reggio Emilia

Reggio Emilia

Reggio Emilia is an affluent city of Northern Italy Italy, in the Emilia-Romagna region. It has about 167,013 inhabitants and is the main comune of the Province of Reggio Emilia....
, Piacenza

Piacenza

Piacenza is a city in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Piacenza....
and Cremona

Cremona

Cremona is a city in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left shore of the Po River in the middle of the Pianura Padana . It is the capital of the province of Cremona and the seat of the local City and Province governments....
became harsher with the aim of controlling the vital trading line over the Po River

Po River

The Po is a river that flows 652 km eastward across northern Italy, from Monviso to the Adriatic Sea near Venice. It has a drainage area of 71,000 km? and is the longest river in Italy....
.

The struggle between Guelphs and Ghibellines was a feature of Parma too. In 1213, her podestà
Podestà

Podest? is the name given to certain high officials in many Italy cities, since the later Middle Ages, mainly as Chief magistrate of a city state , but also as a local administrator, the representative of the Emperor....
was the Guelph Rambertino Buvalelli

Rambertino Buvalelli

Rambertino di Guido Buvalelli , a Bologna judge, statesman, diplomat, and poet, was the earliest of the podest?-troubadours of thirteenth-century Lombardy....
. Then, after a long stance alongside the emperors, the Papist families of the city gained control in 1248. The city was besieged by Emperor Frederick II

Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor

Frederick II , of the House of Hohenstaufen dynasty, was an Kingdom of Italy pretender to the title of King of the Romans from 1212 and unopposed holder of that monarchy from 1215....
, who was however crushed in the battle

Battle of Parma

The Battle of Parma was fought in February 18, 1248 between the forces of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor and the Guelphs. The Guelphs attacked the Imperial camp when Frederick II was away....
that ensued.

Modern era

Parma fell under the control of Milan

Milan

Milan is the second largest city of Italy, located in the plains of Lombardy. It is the capital in the Province of Milan, as well as the Regions of Italy capital of Lombardy....
in 1341. After a short-lived period of independence under the Terzi family (1404-1409), Sforza imposed their rule (1440-1449) through their associated families of Pallavicino, Rossi

Rossi

Rossi is an Italian surname, said to be the most common surname in Italy. Due to Italian emigration, it is also very common in other countries, including the United States, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Chile....
, Sanvitale and Da Correggio. These created a kind of new feudalism

Feudalism

Feudalism, a term first used in the early modern period , in its most classic sense refers to a Middle Ages European political system composed of a set of reciprocal law and military obligations among the warrior nobility, revolving around the three key concepts of lords, vassals, and fiefs....
, building towers and castles throughout the city and the land. These fiefs evolved into truly independent states: the Landi governed the higher Taro

Taro

Taro , more rarely kalo , gabi in The Philippines and dalo in Fiji is a tropical plant grown primarily as a root vegetable for its edible corm, and secondarily as a leaf vegetable....
's valley from 1257 to 1682. The Pallavicino seignory extended over the eastern part of today's province, with the capital in Busseto

Busseto

Busseto is a commune in the province of Parma, in Emilia-Romagna in Northern Italy. It became home of the opera composer Giuseppe Verdi when he moved there in 1824....
. Parma's territories were an exception for Northern Italy, as its feudal subdivision frequently continued until more recent years. For example, Solignano was a Pallavicino family possession until 1805, and San Secondo

San Secondo

San Secondo may refer to:*San Secondo Parmense, a comune in the province of Parma, Italy*San Secondo di Pinerolo, a comune in the province of Turin, Italy...
belonged to the Rossi

Rossi

Rossi is an Italian surname, said to be the most common surname in Italy. Due to Italian emigration, it is also very common in other countries, including the United States, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Chile....
well into the 19th century.

Between the 14th and the 15th centuries, Parma was at the centre of the Italian Wars. The Battle of Fornovo

Battle of Fornovo

The Battle of Fornovo took place 30 km southwest of the city of Parma on 6 July 1495. The League of Republic of Venice was able to temporally expel the France from the Italian Peninsula....
was fought in its territory. The French

France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
held the city in 1500–1521, with a short Papal parenthesis in 1512–1515. After the foreigners were expelled, Parma belonged to the Papal States

Papal States

Farnese

The Farnese family was an influential family in Renaissance Italy.Its most important members include Pope Paul III and the Duke of Parma of Parma....
pope, Paul III

Pope Paul III

Pope Paul III , born Alessandro Farnese, was Pope of the Roman Catholic Church from 1534 to his death in 1549. He also called the Council of Trent in 1545....
, detached Parma and Piacenza

Piacenza

Piacenza is a city in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Piacenza....
from the Papal States and gave them as a duchy for his illegitimate son, Pier Luigi Farnese

Pier Luigi Farnese, Duke of Parma

Pier Luigi Farnese was the first Duke of Parma, Piacenza and Castro, from 1545 to 1547. Born in Rome, Pier Luigi was the illegitimate son of Cardinal Alessandro Farnese ....
, whose descendants ruled in Parma until 1731, when Antonio Farnese (1679-1731), last male of the Farnese line, died. The state was consolidated by Ottavio II Farnese (1547-1586). He also renovated the city's structures to create a true capital for his little but rich reign.

In 1594 a Constitution was emanated, the University

University of Parma

The University of Parma is one of the oldest universities in the world, founded in the 11th century. It is organised in twelve faculties. The University of Parma has currently about 30,000 students....
enhanced and the Nobles' College founded. The war to reduce the barons' power continued for several years: in 1612 Barbara Sanseverino was executed in the central square of Parma, together with six other nobles charged of plotting against the duke. At the end of the 17th century, after the defeat of Pallavicini (1588) and Landi (1682) the Farnese duke could finally hold with firm hand all Parmense territories. The castle of the Sanseverino in Colorno

Colorno

Colorno is a comune in the Province of Parma in the Italy region Emilia-Romagna, located about 90 km northwest of Bologna and about 15 km north of Parma....
was turned into a luxurious summer palace by Ferdinando Bibiena.

In 1731 the combined Duchy of Parma

Duchy of Parma

The Duchy of Parma was created in 1545 from that part of the Duchy of Milan south of the Po River, as a fief for Pope Paul III's illegitimate son, Pier Luigi Farnese, Duke of Parma, centered on the city of Parma....
and Piacenza

Piacenza

Piacenza is a city in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Piacenza....
was given to the House of Bourbon

House of Bourbon

The House of Bourbon is an important European royal house, a branch of the Capetian dynasty. Bourbon kings first ruled Kingdom of Navarre and France in the 16th century....
in a diplomatic shuffle of the European dynastic politics that were played out in Italy. Under the new rulers, however, it faced a certain decadence. In 1734 all the outstanding art collections of the duke's palaces of Parma, Colorno

Colorno

Colorno is a comune in the Province of Parma in the Italy region Emilia-Romagna, located about 90 km northwest of Bologna and about 15 km north of Parma....
and Sala Baganza

Sala Baganza

Sala Baganza is a comune in the Province of Parma in the Italy region Emilia-Romagna, located about 90 km northwest of Bologna and about 12 km southwest of Parma....
were moved to Naples

Naples

Naples is a city in southern Italy, the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples. The city is known for its rich history, art, culture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,800 years old....
.

Parma was under French influence after the Peace of Aachen (1748). Parma became a modern state with the energetic action of prime minister Guillaume du Tillot

Guillaume du Tillot

L?on Guillaume Tillot was a French politician infused with liberal ideals of the the Enlightenment, who from 1759 was the minister of the Duchy of Parma under Philip, Duke of Parma and his wife Princess Louise-?lisabeth of France....
. He created the bases for a modern industry and fought strenuously against the church's privileges. The city lived a period of particular splendour: the Palatine Library, the Archaeological Museum, the Picture Gallery and the Botanical Garden were founded, together with the Royal Printing Works directed by Giambattista Bodoni

Giambattista Bodoni

Giambattista Bodoni was an Italy Engraving, publisher, Printing and typography of high repute remembered for designing a typeface which is now called Bodoni....
.

Contemporary age

During the Napoleonic Wars

Napoleonic Wars

The Napoleonic Wars were a series of conflicts involving Napoleon I of France First French Empire and changing sets of European allies and opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815....
(1802-1814), Parma was part of the Taro Département

Taro (département)

Taro is the name of a d?partement in France of the First French Empire in present Italy. It was named after the Taro River. It was formed in 1808, when the states of Duchy of Parma and Piacenza were annexed by France....
. Under its French name Parme, it was also created a duché grand-fief de l'Empire for Charles-François Lebrun, duc de Plaisance

Charles-François Lebrun, duc de Plaisance

Charles-Fran?ois Lebrun, 1st Duke de Piacenza, prince of the Empire was a France statesman....
, the Emperor's Arch-Treasurer, on 24 April 1808 (extinguished 1926).

After its restoration by the 1814-15 Vienna Congress, the Risorgimento's upheavals had no fertile ground in the tranquil duchy. In 1847, after Marie Louise, Duchess of Parma

Marie Louise, Duchess of Parma

Marie Louise of Austria , born Archduchess Maria Luisa of Austria , became upon marriage Empress of the French , and in 1817 became Duchess of Parma, Piacenza and Guastalla ....
's death, it passed again to the Bourbons

House of Bourbon

The House of Bourbon is an important European royal house, a branch of the Capetian dynasty. Bourbon kings first ruled Kingdom of Navarre and France in the 16th century....
, the last of whom was stabbed in the city and left it to his Widow, Luisa Maria of Berry. On September 15, 1859 the dynasty was declared deposed, and Parma entered in the newly formed provinces of Emilia under Carlo Farini. With the plebiscite of 1860 the former duchy became part of the unified Kingdom of Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia....
.

The loss of the capital role provoked an economical and social crisis in Parma. It started to recover its role of industrial prominence after the connection with Piacenza and Bologna

Bologna

Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna in northern Italy, in the Po Valley , between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, exactly between the Reno River and the S?vena River....
of 1859, and with Fornovo

Fornovo

Fornovo may refer to the following Italian comuni :*Fornovo di Taro, in the province of Parma.*Battle of Fornovo .*Combat of Fornovo, event of Spring 1945 offensive in Italy, end of Italian Campaign during the World War II....
and Suzzara

Suzzara

Suzzara is a comune in the Province of Mantua in the Italy region Lombardy, located about 130 km southeast of Milan and about 20 km south of Mantua....
in 1883. Trade union

Trade union

A trade union or labor union is an organization run by and for workers who have banded together to achieve common goals in key areas such as wages, hours, and working conditions....
s were strong in the city, in which a famous General Strike was declared from May 1 to June 6, 1908. The struggle with Fascism

Fascism

Fascism is a Political radicalism, Authoritarianism Nationalism ideology that aims to create a single-party state with a government led by a dictator who seeks national unity and development by requiring individuals to subordinate self-interest to the collective interest of the nation or Race ....
lived its most dramatic moment in the August 1922, when the regime officer Italo Balbo

Italo Balbo

Italo Balbo was an Kingdom of Italy Blackshirt leader, Marshal of the Air Force , Governor-General of Italian Libya, Commander-in-Chief of Italian North Africa , and the "heir apparent" to Italian dictator Benito Mussolini....
attempted to enter in the popular quarter of Oltretorrente. The citizens organized into the Arditi del Popolo ("People's assaulters") and pushed back the squadristi. This episode is considered the first example of Resistance in Italy.

During World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
, Parma was a strong centre of partisan

Partisan (military)

A partisan is a member of an irregular military force formed to oppose control of an area by a foreign power or by an army of occupation. The term can apply to the field element of resistance movements that opposed Nazi Germany rule in several countries during World War II, or those who after the war fought the Soviet Union in the Eastern blo...
resistance. The train station and marshalling yards were targets for high altitude bombing by the Allies in the spring of 1944. Much of the Palazzo della Pilotta

Palazzo della Pilotta

The Palazzo della Pilotta is a complex of edifices in the historical centre of Parma, northern Italy. Its name derives from the game of pelota....
— situated not far (half a mile) from the train station — was destroyed. Along with it also Teatro Farnese

Teatro Farnese

Teatro Farnese is a Baroque-style theatre in Parma, Italy. It was built in 1618 by Giovanni Battista Aleotti. This theatre was destroyed during World War II , but rebuilt and reopened in 1962....
and part of Biblioteca Palatina were destroyed by Allied bombs. Several other monuments were also damaged: Palazzo del Giardino, Steccata church, San Giovanni church, Palazzo Ducale, Paganini theater and the monument to Verdi

Giuseppe Verdi

Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic music composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers in the 19th century....
. However Parma did not see widespread destruction during the war. Parma was liberated of the German occupation (1943-1945) on April 26, 1945 by the partisan resistance and troops of Brazilian Expeditionary Force .

Main sights

Churches

The Romanesque
Romanesque architecture

Romanesque architecture is the term that is used to describe the architecture of Middle Ages Europe which evolved into the Gothic architecture style beginning in the 12th century....
Cathedral houses both 12th century sculpture by Benedetto Antelami
Benedetto Antelami

Benedetto Antelami was a leading Italy architect and sculpture of the Romanesque architecture school, whose "sculptural style sprang from local north Italian traditions that can be traced back to late antiquity" Little is known about his life....
and a 16th century fresco masterpiece by Antonio da Correggio
Antonio da Correggio

Antonio Allegri da Correggio was the foremost painter of the Parma school of the Italy Renaissance, who was responsible for some of the most vigorous and sensuous works of the 16th century....
.
The Baptistery
Baptistery of Parma

The Baptistery of Parma is a religious edifice in Parma, northern Italy. The baptistery of the Parma Cathedral, it is considered to be a transition between Romanesque architecture and Gothic architecture, and is one of the most important Middle Ages monuments in Europe....
, adjacent to the cathedral was begun in 1196 by Antelami.
Church of Saint John the Evangelist of Parma, built between 1498 and 1510 behind the Cathedral's apse. It has Baroque
Baroque

In the the arts, the Baroque was a Western cultural Epoch , starting roughly at the beginning of the 17th century in Rome, Italy. It was exemplified by drama and grandeur in Baroque sculpture, Baroque painting, literature, Baroque dance, and Baroque music....
facade and belfry, with a Latin cross plant and three naves. In 1520–1522, Correggio frescoed the dome with the Vision of St. John the Evangelist, a highly influential fresco which heralded illustionistic perspective in the decoration of church ceilings. Chapel frescoes by Parmigianino
Parmigianino

Girolamo Francesco Maria Mazzola , also known as Francesco Mazzola or more commonly as Parmigianino or sometimes "Parmigiano", was a prominent Italy Mannerism Painting and printmaker active in Florence, Rome, Bologna, and his native city of Parma....
. Also the cloister
Cloister

A cloister is a covered walk with an open colonnade on one side, running along the walls of buildings that face a quadrangle or garth. The attachment of a cloister to a cathedral or church usually indicates that it is part of a monastic foundation....
s and the ancient Benedictine grocery are noteworthy. The library has books from the 15th and 16th centuries.
Sanctuary of Santa Maria della Steccata
Sanctuary of Santa Maria della Steccata

The Sanctuary of Santa Maria della Steccata is a greek-cross design Renaissance church in central Parma, Italy....
.
The Benedictine Monastery of San Paolo, founded in the 11th century. It houses precious frescoes by Correggio, in the so-called Camera di San Paolo (1519-1520), and Alessandro Araldi
Alessandro Araldi

Alessandro Araldi was an Italy painter of the Renaissance, active mainly in Parma.Little is known of his biography. He apparently assisted with contemporary Cristoforo Caselli ....
.
The Gothic church of San Francesco del Prato (13th century). From napoleonic era to 1990s it was the city's jail.

Palaces

The Palazzo della Pilotta
Palazzo della Pilotta

The Palazzo della Pilotta is a complex of edifices in the historical centre of Parma, northern Italy. Its name derives from the game of pelota....
(1583). It houses the Academy of Fine Arts with artists of the School of Parma, the Palatine Library, the National Gallery, the Archaeological Museum, the Bodoni Museum and the Farnese Theatre
Teatro Farnese

Teatro Farnese is a Baroque-style theatre in Parma, Italy. It was built in 1618 by Giovanni Battista Aleotti. This theatre was destroyed during World War II , but rebuilt and reopened in 1962....
.
The Ducal Palace, built from 1561 for Duke Ottavio Farnese on a design by Jacopo Barozzi da Vignola. Built on the former Sforza castle area, it was enlarged in the 17th-18th centuries. It includes the Palazzo Eucherio Sanvitale, with interesting decorations dating from the 16th centuries and attributed to Gianfrancesco d'Agrate, and a fresco by Parmigianino. Annexed is the Ducal Park also by Vignola. It was turned into a French-style garden in 1749.
The Palazzo del Comune, built in 1627.
The Palazzo del Governatore ("Governor's Palace"), dating from the 13th century.
The Bishop's Palace (1055).
Ospedale Vecchio ("Old Hospital"), created in 1250 and later renovated in Renaissance times. It is now home to the State Archives and to the Communal Library.

Other

The Teatro Farnese
Teatro Farnese

Teatro Farnese is a Baroque-style theatre in Parma, Italy. It was built in 1618 by Giovanni Battista Aleotti. This theatre was destroyed during World War II , but rebuilt and reopened in 1962....
was constructed in 1618–1619 by Giovan Battista Aleotti
Giovan Battista Aleotti

Giovan Battista Aleotti was an Italy architect.Aleotti was born in Argenta, Italy. He completed, with the assistance of his pupil Giovan Battista Magnani, the plan of the Bologna church of Santa Maria del Quartiere....
, totally in wood. It was commissioned by Duke Ranuccio I
Ranuccio I Farnese, Duke of Parma

Ranuccio I Farnese was the fourth Duke of Parma of Parma and Piacenza from 1592 until his death. He was the son of Alessandro Farnese, Duke of Parma and Piacenza, and Maria of Portugal ....
for the visit of Cosimo I de' Medici.
The Cittadella, a large fortress erected in the 16th century by order of Duke Alessandro Farnese
Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma

Alexander Farnese...
, close to the old walls.
The Pons Lapidis (also known as Roman Bridge or Theoderic's Bridge), a Roman structure in stone dating from Augustus reign.
The Orto Botanico di Parma
Orto Botanico di Parma

The Orto Botanico di Parma, also known as the Orto Botanico dell'Universit? di Parma, is a botanical garden maintained by the University of Parma....
is a botanical garden
Botanical garden

Botanical gardens grow a wide variety of plants primarily to categorize and document for scientific purposes. Botanists and horticulturalists tend the flora and maintain the garden's library and herbarium of dried and documented plant material....
maintained by the University of Parma
University of Parma

The University of Parma is one of the oldest universities in the world, founded in the 11th century. It is organised in twelve faculties. The University of Parma has currently about 30,000 students....
.
The Teatro Regio
Teatro Regio di Parma

Teatro Regio di Parma is a famous 19th century opera house and opera company in Parma, Italy, Italy. The theatre was originally known as the Teatro Ducale....
("Royal Theatre"), built in 1821–1829 by Nicola Bettoli
Nicola Bettoli

Nicola or Niccol? Bettoli was an Italy architect. Born in Parma, he is best known as the designer of the neoclassicist style Teatro Regio di Parma of that city, for Marie Louise, Duchess of Parma ....
. It has a Neo-Classical facade and a porch with double window order. It is the city's opera house
Opera house

An opera house is a theater building used for opera performances that consists of a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, and backstage facilities for costumes and set building....
.
The Auditorium Niccolò Paganini
Niccolò Paganini

Niccol? Paganini was an Italy violinist, viola, classical guitar, and composer. He was one of the most celebrated violin virtuosi of his time, and left his mark as one of the pillars of modern violin technique....
, designed by Renzo Piano
Renzo Piano

Renzo Piano is a world renowned Italy architect and recipient of the Pritzker Architecture Prize, AIA Gold Medal, Kyoto Prize and the Sonning Prize....
.
The Museum House of Arturo Toscanini
Arturo Toscanini

Arturo Toscanini was an Italian people conductor. One of the most acclaimed musicians of the late 19th and 20th Centuries, he was renowned for his brilliant intensity, his restless perfectionism, his phenomenal ear for orchestral detail and sonority, and his photographic memory....
, where the famous musician was born.
Museo Lombardi
Museo Lombardi

The Museo Lombardi is an art museum it the city of Parma, Emilia-Romagna .The Museum was created by the efforts of Glauco Lombardi, who devoted his entire life to the recovery, study and conservation of all that remained on the antique market or in private collections of the enormous artistic and documentary heritage of Parma under the Bour...
. It exhibits a prestigious collection of art and historical items regarding Maria Luigia
Marie Louise, Duchess of Parma

Marie Louise of Austria , born Archduchess Maria Luisa of Austria , became upon marriage Empress of the French , and in 1817 became Duchess of Parma, Piacenza and Guastalla ....
of Habsburg
Habsburg

The House of Habsburg was an important royal house of Europe and is best known as supplying all of the formally elected Holy Roman Emperors between 1452 and 1740, as well as rulers of Spanish Empire and the Austrian Empire....
and her first husband Napoleon Bonaparte; important works and documents concerning the Duchy of Parma in the 18th and 19th centuries are also kept by the Museum.

Frazioni

Alberi, Baganzola, Beneceto, Botteghino, Ca'Terzi, Calestani, Carignano, Carpaneto, Cartiera, Casalbaroncolo, Casalora di Ravadese, Casaltone, Case Capelli, Case Cocconi, Case Crostolo, Case Nuove, Case Rosse, Case Vecchie, Casino dalla Rosa, Casagnola, Castelletto, Castelnovo, Cervara, Chiozzola, Coloreto, Corcagnano, Eia, Fontanini, Fontanellato, Gaione, Ghiaiata Nuova, Il Moro, La Catena, La Palazzina, Malandriano, Marano, Marore, Martorano, Molino di Malandriano, Osteria San Martino, Panocchia, Paradigna, Pedrignano, Pilastrello, Pizzolese, Ponte, Porporano, Pozzetto Piccolo, Quercioli, Ravadese, Ronco Pascolo, Rosa, San Prospero, San Ruffino, San Secondo, Sissa, Soragna, Valera, Viarolo, Viazza, Vicofertile, Vicomero, Vigatto, Vigheffio, Vigolante.

Demographics

ISTAT ISTAT ISTAT may refer to:* International Society of Transport Aircraft Trading, an aircraft standards organization* Istituto Nazionale di Statistica, Italian National Statistics Institute... 2007
	Parma, Emilia-Romagna	Italy
Median age	46 years	42 years
Under 18 years old	14.9%	18.1%
Over 65 years old	22.9%	20.0%
Foreign Population	9.1%	5.8%
Births/1,000 people	8.53 b	9.45 b

In 2007, there were 177,069 people residing in Parma located in the province of Parma, Emilia-Romagna

Emilia-Romagna

Emilia-Romagna is an administrative Regions of Italy of Northern Italy comprising the two historic regions of Emilia and Romagna. The capital is Bologna; it has an area of 20,124 km? and about 4.3 million inhabitants....
, of whom 47.4% were male and 52.6% were female. Minors (children ages 18 and younger) totalled 14.87 percent of the population compared to pensioners who number 22.90 percent. This compares with the Italian average of 18.06 percent (minors) and 19.94 percent (pensioners). The average age of a Parma resident is 46 compared to the Italian average of 42. In the five years between 2002 and 2007, the population of Parma experienced 6.97% growth, while Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia....
as a whole grew by 3.56 percent. The current birth rate of Parma is 8.53 births per 1,000 inhabitants compared to the Italian average of 9.45 births.

As of 2006, 90.91% of the population was Italian

Italian people

The Italian people are a Southern European ethnic group located primarily in Italy and, by virtue of a wide-ranging Italian diaspora, throughout Western Europe, the Americas and Australia....
. The largest foreign group came from other parts of Europe

Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
(namely Albania

Albania

Albania , officially the Republic of Albania , is a country in Balkans. It is bordered by Greece to the south-east, Montenegro to the north, Kosovo to the northeast, and the Republic of Macedonia to the east....
, Romania

Romania

Romania is a country located in Southeastern Europe Central Europe, North of the Balkan Peninsula, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian Mountains, bordering on the Black Sea....
, and Ukraine

Ukraine

Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east; Belarus to the north; Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary to the west; Romania and Moldova to the southwest; and the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to the south....
): 3.61%, followed by sub-saharan Africa

Sub-Saharan Africa

Sub-Saharan Africa is a geographical term used to describe the area of the African continent which lies south of the Sahara, or those African countries which are fully or partially located south of the Sahara....
(namely Ghana

Ghana

The Republic of Ghana is a country in West Africa. It borders C?te d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south....
): 1.86%, and North Africa

North Africa

North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, separated by the Sahara from Sub-Saharan Africa.Geopolitically, the United Nations subregion of Northern Africa includes the following seven countries or territories:...
: 1.44. Approximately 17.9 percent of newborns has at least one parent of foreign origins, compared to the Italian average of 10.3%.

Food

Parma is famous for its food: Parmigiano Reggiano

Parmigiano Reggiano

Parmigiano-Reggiano is a hard, fat granular cheese, cooked but not pressed, named after the producing areas of Parma, Reggio Emilia, Modena, Bologna, in Emilia-Romagna, and Mantova, in Lombardy, Italy....
cheese

Cheese

Cheese is a food consisting of proteins and fat from milk, usually the milk of cattle, Water Buffalo, goats, or sheep's milk. It is produced by Coagulation of the milk protein casein....
(also produced in Reggio Emilia

Reggio Emilia

Reggio Emilia is an affluent city of Northern Italy Italy, in the Emilia-Romagna region. It has about 167,013 inhabitants and is the main comune of the Province of Reggio Emilia....
), Prosciutto di Parma (Parma ham)

Prosciutto

Prosciutto is the Italian language word for ham . In English language the word is almost always used for an aged, dry-Curing , spiced Italian ham that is usually sliced thin and served uncooked....
. In 2004 Parma was appointed the seat of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA)

European Food Safety Authority

The European Food Safety Authority is an agency of the European Union that provides independent scientific advice and communication on existing and emerging risks associated with the food chain....
. Parma also has two food multinationals, Barilla and Parmalat

Parmalat

Parmalat SpA , is a multinational Italy dairy and food corporation. Having become the leading global company in the production of UHT milk, the company collapsed in 2003 with a 14bn euro hole in its accounts in what remains Europe's biggest bankruptcy....
.

Sister cities

Shijiazhuang

Shijiazhuang is a prefecture-level city and the Capital of Hebei Province of China, China. It is about 320 km south of Beijing.Shijiazhuang is a newly industrialized city....
, China Milwaukee, United States

United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
Guadalajara, Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federalism constitutionalism republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of Mexico....
Bourg-en-Bresse

Bourg-en-Bresse

Bourg-en-Bresse is a Communes of France in eastern France, capital of the Ain d?partement in France, and was capital of the former Provinces of France of Bresse ....
, France

France

Tours

Tours is a city in central France, the capital of the Indre-et-Loire Departments of France.It is located on the lower reaches of the river River Loire, between Orl?ans and the Atlantic Ocean coast....
, France

France

Ljubljana

Ljubljana is the capital city of Slovenia and its largest town. It is located in the center of the country and is a mid-sized city of some 270,000 inhabitants....
, Slovenia

Slovenia

Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in southern Central Europe bordering Italy to the west, the Adriatic Sea to the southwest, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north....
Worms

Worms, Germany

Worms is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, on the Rhine River. At the end of 2004, it had 85,829 inhabitants.Established by the Celts who called it Borbetomagus, Worms today remains embattled with the cities Trier and Cologne over title of "Oldest City in Germany"....
, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
Szeged

Szeged

Szeged , , is the fourth largest city of Hungary, the regional centre of South-Eastern Hungary and the county seat of the county of Csongr?d ....
, Hungary

Hungary

Hungary , officially in English the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in the Carpathian Basin of Central Europe, bordered by Austria, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia....
Moncton, Canada

Canada

Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....
Stockton

Stockton, California

Stockton is a city in California and the county seat of San Joaquin County, California . Stockton's population estimate for January 1, 2008, according to the California Department of Finance, is 290,141....
, United States

United States

Sport

Parma F.C.

Parma Football Club is an Italy football club based in Parma, Emilia-Romagna, team that are currently competing in the Serie B 2008-09 Serie B season....
was founded in 1913. It is a Serie B

Serie B

Serie B is the name of the second highest football league in Italy. It consists of 22 teams. The championship is often called the cadetti, which means 'juniors' or 'cadets', or campionato cadetto....
football

Football (soccer)

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of eleven players, and is widely considered to be the most popular sport in the world....
club renowned in Italy and Europe for its successes including three national cups, a European Cup Winner's Cup

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup

The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a Football club competition contested annually by the most recent winners of all European domestic cup competitions....
, two UEFA Cups, a European Supercup and an Italian Supercup. It plays in the city's stade Ennio Tardini which used to host up to 29,000 spectators but is being renovated in 2008 after the club was demoted to Serie B. Also volleyball

Volleyball

Volleyball is an Olympic Games team sport in which two teams of 6 active players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules....
, women basketball, rugby union

Rugby union

Rugby union is a competitive outdoor contact sport, played with an oval ball, by two teams of 15 players. It is one of the two main codes of rugby football, the other being rugby league....
and baseball

Baseball

Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport of nine players each. The goal of baseball is to score run by hitting a thrown Baseball with a baseball bat and touching a series of four markers called base arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot square, or diamond. Players on one team take turns hitting against...
have large popularity in the city and have scored relevant successes.

Parma is also home to two rugby union

Rugby union

Parma Rugby

Overmach Rugby Parma is an Italy rugby union club currently competing in Super 10 . They are based in Parma in Emilia-Romagna....
and SKG Gran Rugby

Gran Rugby

SKG Gran Rugby is an Italy rugby union club currently competing in Super 10 . They are based in Parma in Emilia-Romagna. The team was founded in 1999 following the merger of Amatori Parma Rugby and Rugby Noceto....
.

Parma also has an American Football team, Parma Panthers

Parma Panthers

The Parma Panthers are an American football team based in Parma, Italy.In 2006, the team reached the Italian Superbowl for the first time ever....
, for which John Grisham

John Grisham

John Ray Grisham is an United States ex-politician, lawyer and novelist is best known for his works of modern legal drama. As of 2008, his books have sold over 250 million copies worldwide....
's book Playing for Pizza

Playing for Pizza

Playing for Pizza is a short novel by John Grisham, released on September 25 2007. The novel is about an itinerant American football player who can no longer get work in the National Football League and whose agent, as a last resort, signs a deal for him to play for the Parma Panthers, in Parma, Italy....
was based.

Famous people

Painters and sculptors

Francesco Mazzola, best known as Il Parmigianino
Parmigianino

Girolamo Francesco Maria Mazzola , also known as Francesco Mazzola or more commonly as Parmigianino or sometimes "Parmigiano", was a prominent Italy Mannerism Painting and printmaker active in Florence, Rome, Bologna, and his native city of Parma....
, painter
Sisto Badalocchio
Sisto Badalocchio

Sisto Badalocchio Rosa was an Italy Painting and engraver of the Bolognese School .Born in Parma, he worked first under Agostino Carracci in Bologna, then Annibale Carracci, in Rome....
, painter
Painting

Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . In art, the term describes both the act and the result, which is called a painting....
Alessandro Araldi
Alessandro Araldi

Alessandro Araldi was an Italy painter of the Renaissance, active mainly in Parma.Little is known of his biography. He apparently assisted with contemporary Cristoforo Caselli ....
, painter
Michelangelo Anselmi
Michelangelo Anselmi

Michelangelo Anselmi was an Italy Renaissance-Mannerism Painting active mostly in Parma.He was born, apparently in Tuscany, from a Parmesan family....
, painter born in Tuscany
Giovanni Maria Francesco Rondani
Giovanni Maria Francesco Rondani

Giovanni Maria Francesco Rondani was an Italy Painting of the Parmesan school of painting. He was a near contemporary of Michelangelo Anselmi, and is known to have worked on designs of Antonio da Correggio for the frescoes in the Cappella del Bono of San Giovanni Evangelista in Parma....
, painter
Girolamo Mazzola Bedoli
Girolamo Mazzola Bedoli

Girolamo Mazzola Bedoli was an Italy Painting of the Parmesan school of Painting, and active in a Mannerism.Bedoli was born in Parma. He was a near contemporary of Parmigianino, and after the early death of the latter master, he was completed some frescoes initially commissioned from Parmigianino, for example, in the apse at Santa Maria d...
, painter
Filippo Mazzola, painter
Antonio da Correggio
Antonio da Correggio

Antonio Allegri da Correggio was the foremost painter of the Parma school of the Italy Renaissance, who was responsible for some of the most vigorous and sensuous works of the 16th century....
(Antonio Allegri), painter born in Correggio (Reggio Emilia
Reggio Emilia

Reggio Emilia is an affluent city of Northern Italy Italy, in the Emilia-Romagna region. It has about 167,013 inhabitants and is the main comune of the Province of Reggio Emilia....
)
Benedetto Antelami
Benedetto Antelami

Benedetto Antelami was a leading Italy architect and sculpture of the Romanesque architecture school, whose "sculptural style sprang from local north Italian traditions that can be traced back to late antiquity" Little is known about his life....
Giacomo (or Jacopo) Zanguidi ( Bertoia
Giacomo Zanguidi

Giacomo Zanguidi also called Bertoia or Jacopo Zanguidi or Jacobo Bertoia, , was an Italy Painting of a late-Renaissance or Mannerism style that emerged in Parma towards the end of the 16th century....
)
Giovan Federico Bonzagni
Amedeo Bocchi
Bartolomeo Schedoni
Bartolomeo Schedoni

Bartolomeo Schedoni was an Italy early Baroque painter of Reggio Emilia....
Oreste Carpi
Oreste Carpi

Oreste Carpi was an Italian deaf artist famous as Painting, engraver and ceramist....

Others

Giambattista Bodoni
Giambattista Bodoni

Giambattista Bodoni was an Italy Engraving, publisher, Printing and typography of high repute remembered for designing a typeface which is now called Bodoni....
, typographer
Typography

Typography is the art and techniques of typesetting, type design, and modifying type glyphs. Type glyphs are created and modified using a variety of illustration techniques....
Ferdinando Paer
Ferdinando Paer

Ferdinando Pa?r was an Italy composer....
, composer
Composer

A composer is a person who creates music, usually in the medium of musical notation, for interpretation and performance. The level of distinction between composers and other musicians varies, which affects issues such as copyright and the deference given to individual interpretations of a particular piece of music....
Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Verdi

Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic music composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers in the 19th century....
, opera composer
Arturo Toscanini
Arturo Toscanini

Arturo Toscanini was an Italian people conductor. One of the most acclaimed musicians of the late 19th and 20th Centuries, he was renowned for his brilliant intensity, his restless perfectionism, his phenomenal ear for orchestral detail and sonority, and his photographic memory....
, conductor
Conducting

Conducting is the act of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. Orchestras, choirs, concert bands and other musical ensembles often have conductors....
Bernardo Bertolucci
Bernardo Bertolucci

Bernardo Bertolucci is an Academy Award-winning Italy film director and screenwriter....
, director
Giovannino Guareschi
Giovannino Guareschi

Giovannino Guareschi was an Italy journalist, cartoonist and humorist whose most famous creation is the priest Don Camillo.Giovannino Guareschi was born in Fontanelle di Roccabianca, near Parma, Italy, into a middle-class family....
, writer
Vittorio Bottego
Vittorio Bottego

Vittorio Bottego was an Italy army officer and one of the first Western explorers of Jubaland in Africa , where he led two expeditions.Bottego was born in Parma....
, explorer
Attilio Bertolucci
Attilio Bertolucci

Attilio Bertolucci was an Italian poet and writer. He is father to film directors Bernardo Bertolucci and Giuseppe Bertolucci....
, poet
Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma
Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma

Alexander Farnese...
, military commander
Cleofonte Campanini
Cleofonte Campanini

Cleofonte Campanini was an Italian Conductor . His brother was the tenor Italo Campanini.Born in Parma, Campanini studied music at that city's conservatory, making his debut with a performance of Carmen, also in Parma, in 1883....
, conductor
Conducting

Conducting is the act of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. Orchestras, choirs, concert bands and other musical ensembles often have conductors....

Parma

History

Prehistory

Ancient age

Middle Ages

Modern era

Contemporary age

Main sights

Churches

Palaces

Other

Frazioni

Demographics

Food

Sister cities

Sport

Famous people

Painters and sculptors

Others

See also

External links