Parma Things to Do

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Palazzo Pilotta is enormous mass of the building dominating the entire historic centre of Parma. The building, which seems uncompleted, was built by Ranuccio I Farnese, the Duke of Parma. In its concept the building was to be intended not only as the seat of the services of the then nearby Court to accommodate the Barracks, the stables, the warehouses, the State Archive, the mint and the armory, but also as the protected passage to reach the Ducal Park. The Farnese used to cross the bridge which was closed to the public.
In the beginning of the 17th century works were interrupted and never resumed, with Ranuccio's death in 1622 all the project were abandoned and thus the building remained uncompleted. The Bourbons, whom replaced Farnese, did not carry out structural interventions, but carried out modifications only in the inside to accommodate the museums and libraries.
Nowadays the palace accommodates the Bodoni Museum and the Palatina Library.

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The splendid Baptystery with its irregular octagon-base is probably considered as the land mark of Parma. Its construction began in 1196 on a design by the architect Benedetto Antelami, but the works were interrupted in 1216 due to the lack of pink Veronese marble. This was caused by the fights opposing Parma to Verona. Later on the works of the upper part began in 1259 and finished towards the end of the 13th century.
The baptistery is considered as one of the most important Italian medieval monuments, built in Romanssque style but with strong influences by the early French Gothic.
On its rooftop is an elegant balustrade with eight slim lanterns.

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Vescovado is Bishop's Residence, situated just in front of the Cathedral. It was founded in the first half of the 11th century, ordered by the Bishop Cadalo, the future anti-Pope. The internal portico was erected in the 15th century. The palace accomodates a rich collection of paintings and seven slabs dating back to the 12th century found in the Cathedral's Presbytery.
In front of the palace stands small but beautiful sculpture of a girl with the manuscript. Unfortunatelly I couldn't collect any information regarding that sculpture.

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According to the city map, the church of St. John the Evangelist is the main church in the town named as Duomo. It used to be the Benedictine complex originaly built in the Romanesque style, dateing back to 10th century. The original chuch, however, was destroyed by a fire towards the end of the 15th century. Its reconstruction was decided in Renaissance style and was carried out between the end of 15th and the beginning of 16th centuries.
The whole project was followed by the Benedictine monks which created here an important cultural centre.
Unfortunately, the church was closed by the time of my visit and I couldn't see its valuable interiors.

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Palazzo del Commune was rebuilt in 1627, on the ruins of the Palazzo del Capitano, built in 1221 by Torello di Strada. The palace was rebuilt on the occasion of the wedding between Odoardo Farnese and Margherita de' Medici, on a project by Gian Battista Magnani. It has wide and high portico, whose arches were opened after it was decided to use the premises as barracks, salt customs warrehouse and mint.
On the side, which overlooking Chiesa di San Vitale, there is nice fountain, work by Paolo Toschi, on the top of which is placed a bronze group by Vanderstoch, depicting the fight between Hercules and Antaeus.

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In the medieval times Italian towns were governed by so-called Podesta, which is another name for the mayor, but with lots more authority than today's mayors have. The Podesta of Parma had seat in this palace which the first foundation dates back to the mid-13th century. The palace consists of two bodies and features a wide vault. It is in particularly interesting because of elegant three-light windows, those in the middle part ascending as they were following the steps of a large stairway that no longer excists.
Palazzo del Podesta is well preserved and it is one of the oldest building reminded from medieval times of Parma.

Parma's river, the Torrente Parma, is a tributary to one of Italy's largest rivers, the Po. A walk along the Torrente will give you the chance to see different buildings of the old town in a different angle and get an overview over the different bridges. There are surely more beautiful rivers in this world and somehow this one always looks like it is going to dry out. But spending a couple of minutes on the one or other side of it is – in my eyes - not a waste of time. And the proximity of Ponte Verdi and Ponte di Mezzo makes it quite easy to get from one side to the other.

This bridge can be seen as the main bridge of the town: It connects the old town on the eastern bank with the park on the western. It is located right behind the Palazzo della Pilotta which is an interesting background for bridge pictures.
The first bridge on this place was finished in 1278, and replaced several times during the ceturies. The last bridge dates from 1903 and was dedicated to the componist Giuseppe Verdi who died two years earlier.