Discover 35 hidden attractions, cool sights, and unusual things to do in Parma (Italy). Don't miss out on these must-see attractions: Palazzo del Giardino, Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta, and Stadio Ennio Tardini. Also, be sure to include Galleria nazionale di Parma in your itinerary.
Below, you can find the list of the most amazing places you should visit in Parma (Emilia-Romagna).
Table of Contents
Palazzo del Giardino
The Palazzo del Giardino or Palazzo Ducale del Giardino is a historic palace in the Parco Ducale in Parma. It is not to be confused with the official Parma residence of Marie Louise, Duchess of Parma between Palazzo della Pilotta and Palazzo della Provincia in what is now known as piazzale della Pace - she also lived at the Ducal Palace of Colorno and in the Casino dei Boschi in Sala Baganza. The main Ducal Palace in Parma, the Palazzo della Pilotta and the teatro Reinach were all destroyed in bombing on 13 May 1944.
It currently houses Parma's Provincial Carabinieri Command and the Carbinieri's Reparto investigazioni scientifiche (RIS). It is due to become a base for the European Food Safety Authority.[1]
Address: Parco Ducale, 3, Parma
Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta
Also known as: Duomo di Parma
Grand Romanesque place of worship. Parma Cathedral is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Parma, Emilia-Romagna, dedicated to the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is the episcopal seat of the Diocese of Parma. It is an important Italian Romanesque cathedral: the dome, in particular, is decorated by a highly influential illusionistic fresco by Renaissance painter Antonio da Correggio.[2]
Address: Piazza Duomo, 7, 43121 Parma
Stadio Ennio Tardini
Stadium in Parma, Italy. Stadio Ennio Tardini, commonly referred to as just Il Tardini, is a football stadium in Parma, Italy, located near the centre of Parma, between the town centre and the city walls. It is the home of Parma Calcio 1913. The stadium was built in 1923 and was named after one of Parma's former presidents, Ennio Tardini. The stadium is the nineteenth largest football stadium in Italy and the second largest in Emilia–Romagna with a capacity of 22,352 spectators. The stadium is the sixth oldest Italian football ground still in use.
The ground underwent significant expansion under Parmalat's ownership of the resident football club in the 1990s, as the ground's seating capacity was increased from around 13,500 to 29,050. In 2006, the capacity was reduced to 27,906 although only 21,473 are authorised to enter for all-seater events and even those seats are very seldom all sold. The expansion has allowed meant a number of Italy matches have been played at the Tardini. Expansion plans were made public in Italy's unsuccessful bid for Euro 2016 and would have made the permanent capacity of the stadium 31,397.[3]
Address: Viale Partigiani d'Italia, 1, 43123 Parma
Galleria nazionale di Parma
Museum with several centuries of art. The Galleria nazionale di Parma is an art gallery in Parma, northern Italy.
Painters exhibited include Beato Angelico, Canaletto, Correggio, Sebastiano del Piombo, Guercino, Leonardo da Vinci, Parmigianino (Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine), Ludovico Carracci (The Funeral of the Virgin Mary), Agostino Carracci (Madonna and Child with Saints), Tintoretto and others.[4]
Address: Piazza della Pilotta, 5, 43121 Parma
Battistero di Parma
Baptismal center with ancient frescoes. The Baptistery of Parma is a religious edifice in Parma, northern Italy. Architecturally, the baptistery of Parma Cathedral marks a transition between the Romanesque and Gothic styles, and it is considered to be among the most important Medieval monuments in Europe.[5]
Address: Piazza Duomo, 43121 Parma
San Giovanni Evangelista
Catholic church in Parma, Italy. San Giovanni Evangelista is a church in Parma, northern Italy, part of a complex also including a Benedictine convent and grocery.[6]
Address: Piazzale S. Giovanni, 1, 43121 Parma
Teatro Regio
Opera house in Parma, Italy. Teatro Regio di Parma, originally constructed as the Nuovo Teatro Ducale, is an opera house and opera company in Parma, Italy.
Replacing an obsolete house, the new Ducale achieved prominence in the years after 1829, and especially so after the composer Giuseppe Verdi, who was born near Busseto, some thirty kilometres away, had achieved fame. Also well known in Parma was the conductor Arturo Toscanini, born there in 1867.
As has been noted by Lee Marshall, "while not as well known as La Scala in Milan or La Fenice in Venice, the city’s Teatro Regio....is considered by opera buffs to be one of the true homes of the great Italian tradition, and the well-informed audience is famous for giving voice to its approval or disapproval – not just from the gallery."
The 1,400-seat auditorium, with four tiers of boxes topped by a gallery, was inaugurated on 16 May 1829 when it presented the premiere of Vincenzo Bellini's Zaira, a production which was staged another seven times, although it did not prove to be popular with the Parma audiences. Initially Rossini had been invited to compose a work for the inauguration of the house, but he was too busy and so the task fell to Bellini. However, that inaugural season saw three Rossini operas staged, including Moïse et Pharaon, Semiramide, and Il barbiere di Siviglia.
Today, the company stages about four operas each season from mid January to April and, since 2003, it has presented an annual Verdi Festival each October.[7]
Address: Strada Garibaldi Giuseppe, 11, 43121 Parma
Santa Cristina
Santa Cristina is a Baroque-style, Roman Catholic church located on via Repubblica in Parma, region of Emilia-Romagna, Italy.[8]
Address: Str. della Repubblica, 52, 43100 Parma
Palazzo della Pilotta
Palace with gallery, theatre and museums. The Palazzo della Pilotta is a complex of edifices located between Piazzale della Pace and the Lungoparma in the historical centre of Parma, region of Emilia Romagna, Italy. Its name derives from the game of pelota played at one time by Spanish soldiers stationed in Parma.[9]
Address: Piazza della Pilotta, 3, 43121 Parma
Teatro Farnese
Theatre in Parma, Italy. Teatro Farnese is a Renaissance theatre in the Palazzo della Pilotta, Parma, Italy. It was built in 1618 by Giovanni Battista Aleotti. The idea of creating this grand theater came from the Duke of Parma and Piacenza Ranuccio I Farnese. The theatre was almost destroyed by an Allied air raid during World War II. It was rebuilt and reopened in 1962.
It is, along with the Teatro all'antica in Sabbioneta and the Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza, one of only three Renaissance theaters still in existence.
Some claim this as the first permanent proscenium theatre (that is, a theatre in which the audience views the action through a single frame, which is known as the "proscenium arch").[10]
Address: Palazzo Della Pilotta, 43121, Parma
Museo Glauco Lombardi
Museum in Parma, Italy. The Museo Lombardi is a museum displaying an eclectic collection of 19th-century art and cultural works from Parma. It is located in the Palazzo di Riserva on Strada Garibaldi #5 in central Parma, Emilia-Romagna, Italy.[11]
Address: Str. G. Garibaldi, 15, 43121 Parma
Basilica di Santa Maria della Steccata
Sanctuary in Parma, Italy. The Shrine of Santa Maria della Steccata is a Greek-cross design Renaissance church in central Parma, Italy. The name derives from the fence or steccato used to corral the numerous devotees who visited a venerated image of the Madonna.
A Nursing Madonna is enshrined was crowned on 27 May 1601 by a Marian fanatic and devotee, Fray Giacomo di Forli of the Capuchin order.
Pope Benedict XVI issued a Pontifical decree which raised the Marian sanctuary to the status of Basilica on 9 February 2008.[12]
Address: Str. G. Garibaldi, 23, 43121 Parma
San Paolo
Monastery in Parma, Italy. San Paolo is a former convent in central Parma, Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy. It is best known for housing the Camera di San Paolo, decorated by a masterpiece of fresco work by Correggio.[13]
Address: Strada Macedonio Melloni, 3, 43121 Parma
Palazzo di Riserva
Palazzo. The Palazzo di Riserva, also known as the Palazzo delle Poste because for long it hosted the offices of the Postal Service, is a Neoclassical-style palace in central Parma, region of Emilia Romagna, Italy. The large structure now hosts the Museo Glauco Lombardi displaying collections from 19th-century Parma, as well as offices of the postal service, the provincial forestry service, a literary club, and several shops. It has been much altered over the years.[14]
Santa Croce
Catholic church in Parma, Italy. Santa Croce is a Romanesque-style, Roman Catholic church, located on the piazza of the same name, along via Emilia in the quartiere of Oltretorrente of Parma, Region of Emilia-Romagna, Italy.[15]
Address: Via D'azeglio Massimo, 130, 43125 Parma
Santissima Annunziata
The Santissima Annunziata, also called the Basilica del Paradiso, is a Renaissance style, Roman Catholic church and convent located on Via Massimo D'Azeglio in Parma, Italy.[16]
Address: Strada Imbriani, 4, 43100 Parma
Chiesa di San Francesco del Prato
Church in Parma, Italy. San Francesco del Prato is a Gothic-style, Roman Catholic church, now deconsecrated, located on Piazzale San Francesco #4 in central Parma, Italy.[17]
Address: Piazzale San Francesco, 4, 43100 Parma
Sant'Antonio Abate
Catholic church in Parma, Italy. The church of Sant'Antonio Abate is located in Parma, Italy.[18]
Address: Str. della Repubblica, 52, 43121 Parma
San Marcellino
San Marcellino is a Renaissance-style, once Roman Catholic but now deconsecrated church located on strada del Collegio dei Nobili in Parma, region of Emilia-Romagna, Italy.[19]
Address: Via Collegio Dei Nobile 9, 43121 Parma
Palazzetto Eucherio San Vitale
Palazzetto Eucherio Sanvitale, also known as Casino di Codiponte or Casino degli Umiliati, is located within the Parco Ducale in Parma.
Address: Parco Ducale, 87/A, Parma
San Pietro Church
Also known as: Chiesa di San Pietro
Catholic church in Parma, Italy. San Pietro or San Pietro Apostolo is a Neoclassic-style, Roman Catholic church located on Piazza Garibaldi in Parma.[20]
Address: 13/a Piazza Giuseppe Garibaldi, Parma
Santa Maria del Quartiere
Place of worship in Parma, Italy. Santa Maria del Quartiere is a Baroque-style church in the quarter of the Oltretorrente of the city of Parma, Italy.[21]
Address: Str. Quartiere, 43125 Parma
Palazzo Sanvitale
The Palazzo Sanvitale is a palace located on Piazzale Sanvitale #1 in central Parma, region of Emilia-Romagna, Italy. The palace now houses a museum.[22]
Chiesa di Sant'Alessandro
The ancient church of Sant'Alessandro is found on in via Garibaldi in Parma, Italy.[23]
Address: Via Giosuè Carducci, 43100 Parma
Sant'Uldarico
The church of Sant'Uldarico is located on Farini Street in Parma.[24]
Address: Borgo Felino, 6, 43121 Parma
Botanical Garden
Also known as: Orto Botanico
Botanical garden in Parma, Italy. The Orto Botanico di Parma, also known as the Orto Botanico dell'Università di Parma, is a botanical garden maintained by the University of Parma. It is located on the Viale Martiri della Libertà, Parma, Italy, and open daily without charge.
The garden succeeds Parma's earlier Orto dei Semplici, a garden for medicinal plants, established by Ranuccio I Farnese, Duke of Parma. Today's garden was created in 1770 by Giambattista Guatteri under the auspices of Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies, with its glass house completed in 1793.
The garden contains aquatic plants including Acorus calamus, Butomus umbellatus, Caltha palustris, Cyperus papyrus, Eichhornia crassipes, Elodea canadensis, Iris pseudacorus, Lemna minor, Nymphaea alba, Pistia stratiotes, and Sagittaria sagittaefolia, as well as mature trees including ginkgo, magnolia, Pinus nigra subsp. laricio, and Ulmus campestris. Its glass houses contain a tropical section with Dracaena fragrans, Ficus elastica, F. benjamina, Monstera deliciosa, Tamarindus indica, Theobroma cacao, etc. as well as epiphytes, orchids, and tropical fruits; and a desert house containing a variety of cacti and succulents.[25]
Address: Via Farini, 90, 43121 Parma
Santa Caterina d'Alessandria
Also known as: Chiesa di Santa Caterina
Catholic church in Parma, Italy. Santa Caterina d'Alessandria is a Roman Catholic church located in the borgo Santa Caterina of the city of Parma, Italy[26]
Church of San Giuseppe
Also known as: Chiesa di San Giuseppe
Catholic church in Parma, Italy. San Giuseppe is a Baroque church in Parma.
The church was built from 1626-1666 under the designs of Girolamo Rainaldi. Work was interrupted by the plague affecting the city. The façade was completed in 1782 from a design by Antonio Brianti.
The interior has canvases featuring St Cecilia by Paolo Ferrari and John the Baptist and S. Francesco di Sales by Giuseppe Peroni, paintings acquired after the suppression of the parochial church of Santa Cecilia.[27]
Address: Borgo S. Giuseppe, 15, 43100 Parma
Chiesa di Santa Teresa del Bambin Gesù
Building. Santa Teresa del Bambin Gesù, also known as the Chiesa della Trinità Nuova, is a Roman Catholic parish church located on Strada Garibaldi 28 in Parma, region of Emilia Romagna, Italy. This building was once was the Oratory dei Trinità Rossi.[28]
Address: Str. G. Garibaldi, 28, 43121 Parma
Arch of San Lazzaro
Also known as: Arco di San Lazzaro
Landmark in Parma, Italy. The Arch of San Lazzaro is a triumphal arch that stands just outside and east of the city of Parma, Region of Emilia-Romagna. It was constructed in 1628 under the designs of Giovanni Battista Magnani to celebrate the arrival to the city of Margherita de’ Medici, the new wife of the then Duke Odoardo Farnese. At the time of its construction, the panels of the arch were painted by Pomponio Amidano with historical tableaus, depicting
The paintings were decayed over time and in 1819 were replaced to celebrate the visit to Parma of the Austrian Emperor.[29]
Church of Holy Mary of Grace
Also known as: Chiesa di Santa Maria delle Grazie
Edifice. The Oratory of Santa Maria delle Grazie, sometimes called a church, is a Baroque religious edifice in central Parma.
Construction of the Oratory began in 1617, under the designs of the local architect Gian Battista Magnani. In 1644, the architect Girolamo Rinaldi installed the peculiar octagonal lantern. The interior contains a number of Baroque paintings, including works (1715) by Sebastiano Galeotti.[30]
San Pietro d'Alcantara
Catholic church in Parma, Italy. The church of San Pietro d'Alcantara is found on via Padre Onorio in Parma. The church is dedicated to the canonized Franciscan friar, Peter of Alcantara. Construction at this site began in 1706, next to a reformed Franciscan monastery. In 1810, Napoleon closed the monastery. The church was not reconsecrated till 1927. It contains an Glory of St. Peter of Alcantara, painted in 1736 by Clemente Ruta.[31]
Address: Borgo Padre Onorio Rosi, 15, 43121 Parma
Santa Maria degli Angeli
Catholic church in Parma, Italy. Santa Maria degli Angeli is a church in central Parma. It is also called Santa Maria dell'Addolorata or Santa Maria del Bambin Gesù.[32]
Address: Str. Luigi Carlo Farini, 73, 43121 Parma
San Sepolcro
Catholic church in Parma, Italy. San Sepolcro is a church in central Parma.[33]
Address: Str. della Repubblica, 76, 43100 Parma
Santa Lucia
Catholic church in Parma, Italy. Santa Lucia is a Baroque-style Roman Catholic church located on Strada Cavour in central Parma, region of Emilia Romagna, Italy.[34]
Address: Str. Cavour, 11, 43121 Parma