One
of the most beautiful cities in Europe, Parma Italy is often
overlooked by travelers visiting Milan (80 miles north) and
Florence (120 miles south). Blessed with colorful Parma hotels,
restaurants, art and music, the city's cultural contributions
to the world include artists Correggio, Parmigianino and Paolo
Toschi, film director Bernardo Bertolucci and composers Giuseppe
Verdi and Arturo Toscanini.
Parma has the highest standard of living in Italy, an affluent town even by
Emilia Romagna's elevated standards. The heart of the city is
Piazza Garibaldi, which stands on the site of the former Roman court. From here
the historical centre develops, the area brims over with beautiful palaces,
shops and elegant bars. The Cathedral, located in Piazza Duomo, was built in the
11th century on the ruins of an earlier structure, is a renowned example of the
Romanesque style in the Po valley, with a cupola painted by the artist Correggio
in the sixteenth century. also located in Piazza Duomo is the ancient
Battistero, an octagonal structure made of pink marble, an expression of the
transition to the Gothic style. Other important parts of Parma include the Old
San Giovanni Pharmacy, Chiesa della Steccata, the Camera di San Paolo, Palazzo
Ducale and Park, the incredibly beautiful Teatro Regio, the Pilotta and many
other sites. Parma is also home to a university dating back to the ninth
century, now with about 20,000 students. With a population of 200,000, Parma is nestled in the fertile
valley of the Po River deep in the heart of the richest of all
Italian provinces - the Emilia-Romagna. The region is famous
for many of its local culinary delights including Parmigiano-Reggiano
cheese, Parma ham (prosciutto), Balsamic vinegar, white truffles
and Porcini mushrooms.
 History:
Parma was founded in 183 B.C. by the consul Marcus Emilius
Lepidus and 2000 Roman citizens as part of a colonization project
in which the nearby towns of Piacenza, Modena and Bologna were
also established. During the Imperial Age of the Roman Empire
(27BC - 400AD), Parma had a forum in today's Piazza Garibaldi
(photo upper left), a theater, an amphitheater, public baths
and a basilica. In the Byzantine period (400AD - 1400AD), Parma
became known as Chrysopolis - The Golden City. The flourishing
town saw the rule of the Visconti, the Sforza, the French and
the Papacy from the 14th to 16th Centuries. In 1545 Pope Paul
III established a Duchy with his son Pier Luigi Farnese as its
ruler. The years between 1802 and 1814 were a time of Napoleonic
rule and in 1816 the city's administration was passed to Bonaparte's
second wife, Maria Luigia of Austria, whose influential power
propelled Parma to become one of the great cultural centers
of Europe. Parma joined the newly unified Kingdom of Italy with
a plebiscite on March 18, 1860.
David
J. Castello |
