Parma

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This article is about the Italian city. For other uses, see Parma (disambiguation).
Comune di Parma
Coat of arms of Comune di Parma
Municipal coat of arms
Country Flag of Italy Italy
Region Emilia-Romagna
Province Parma (PR)
Mayor Pietro Vignali
Elevation 55 m (180 ft)
Area 260 km² (100 sq mi)
Population (as of December 31, 2007)
 - Total 178,718
 - Density 687/km² (1,779/sq mi)
Time zone CET, UTC+1
Coordinates 44°48′N, 10°20′E
Gentilic Parmigiani (Pram'zan) (Parmensi (Arijoz) are
called the province's inhabitants)
Dialing code 0521
Postal code 43100
Frazioni See list
Patron Sant'Ilario di Poitiers, Sant'Onorato, San Rocco
 - Day January 13
Website: www.comune.parma.it

Parma is a city in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna, famous for its architecture and the fine countryside around it. It is the home of the University of Parma, one of the oldest universities in the world. Parma is divided into two parts by the little stream with the same name. The Italian poet Attilio Bertolucci (born in a hamlet in the countryside) wrote: "As a capital city it had to have a river. As a little capital it received a stream, which is often dry".

Contents

[edit] Prehistory

Parma was already a built-up area in the Bronze Age. 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 B.C. and the 800 B.C.) the first necropolises (placed where there is the actual Cathedral Plaza and Millstone Square) rose also.

[edit] History

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 (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 more a matter of choice.

The Roman colony was founded in 183 BC, together with Modena. 2000 families were settled. Parma had a certain importance as a road hub over the Via Aemilia 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 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 to his fellows. During the Gothic War, however, Totila destroyed it. It was then part of the Byzantine Exarchate of Ravenna (changing name to Chrysopolis, "Golden City", probably due to the presence of the army's treasure) and, from 569, of the Lombard Kingdom of Italy. During the Middle Ages, Parma became an important stage of the Via Francigena, 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.

Piazza della Pace with the Farnese family’s Palazzo della Pilotta.
Piazza della Pace with the Farnese family’s Palazzo della Pilotta.

Under the Frankish rule, Parma became the capital of a county (774). Like most northern Italian cities, it was nominally a part of the Holy Roman Empire created by Charlemagne, but locally ruled by its bishops, first being Guidobus. In the subsequent struggles between Papacy and Empire, Parma was usually member of the Imperial party. Two of its bishops became antipopes: Càdalo, founder of the Cathedral, as Honorius II); and Guibert, as Clement III). An almost independent commune was created around 1140. After the Peace of Constance (1183), quarrels with the neighbouring communes of Reggio Emilia, Piacenza and Cremona became harsher: the aim was the control over the vital trading line over the Po River.

The struggle between Guelphs and Ghibelline was a feature of Parma too. In 1213 her podestà was the Guelph Rambertino Buvalelli. Then, after a long stance alongside the Emperors, the Papist families of the city gained control in 1248: the city was besieged by the Emperor Frederick II, who was however crushed in the battle that ensued.

Parma fell under the control of Milan 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, Sanvitale and Da Correggio. These created a kind of new feudalism, building towers and castles throughout the city and the land. These fiefs evolved into truly independent states: the Landi governed the higher Taro's valley from 1257 to 1682. The Pallavicino seignory extended over the eastern part of today's province, with the capital in Busseto. 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 belonged to the Rossi well into the 19th century.

Parma in the 15th century.
Parma in the 15th century.

Between the 14th and the 15th Centuries, Parma was at the centre of the Italian Wars. The Battle of Fornovo was fought in its territory. The Frenchheld the city in 1500-1521, with a short Papal parenthesis in 1512-1515. After the foreigners were expelled, Parma belonged to the Papal States until 1545.

In that year the Farnese pope, Paul III, detached Parma and Piacenza from the Papal States and gave them as a duchy for his illegitimate son, Pier Luigi 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 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 was turned into a luxurious summer palace by Ferdinando Bibiena.

The battistero of Parma.
The battistero of Parma.

In 1731 the combined Duchy of Parma and Piacenza was given to the House of Bourbon 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 and Sala Baganza were moved to Naples.

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. 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.

During the Napoleonic Wars (1802-1814), Parma was part of the Taro Département. Under its French name Parme, it was also created a duché grand-fief de l'Empire for Charles-François Lebrun, duc de Plaisance, 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's death, it passed again to the Bourbons, 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.

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 of 1859, and with Fornovo and Suzzara in 1883. Trade unions were strong in the city, in which a famous General Strike was declared from May 1 to June 6, 1908. The struggle with Fascism lived its most dramatic moment in the August 1922, when the regime officer Italo Balbo 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, Parma was a strong centre of partisan 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 — situated near the train station — was destroyed by errant bombs, but 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 [1].

[edit] Main sights

[edit] Churches

The Cathedral and the Baptistry of Parma.
The Cathedral and the Baptistry of Parma.
Façade of the church of St. Francis.
Façade of the church of St. Francis.
The Governor's Palace.
The Governor's Palace.
  • The Romanesque Cathedral houses both 12th century sculpture by Benedetto Antelami and a 16th century fresco masterpiece by Antonio da Correggio.
  • The Baptistery, 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 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. Also the cloisters and the ancient Benedictine grocery are noteworthy. The library has books from the 15th and 16th centuries.
  • Sanctuary of Santa Maria della Steccata.
  • 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.
  • The Gothic church of San Francesco del Prato (13th century). Until the 1990s it was the city's jail

[edit] Palaces

  • The Palazzo della Pilotta (1583). It houses the Academy of Fine Arts with artists of the School of Parma (Painting), the Palatine Library, the National Gallery, the Archaeological Museum, the Bodoni Museum and the Farnese Theatre.
  • 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.

[edit] Other

[edit] Frazioni (villages)

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.

[edit] Food

Parma is famous for its food: Parmigiano Reggiano cheese (also produced in Reggio Emilia), Prosciutto di Parma (Parma ham). In 2004 Parma was appointed the seat of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). Parma also has two food multinationals, Barilla and Parmalat.

[edit] Sister cities

[edit] Sport

Parma F.C. was founded in 1913. It is a Serie A football club renowned in Italy and Europe for its successes including three national cups, a European Cup of the Winner's Cup, two UEFA Cups, a European Supercup and an Italian Supercup. It plays in the city's stade Ennio Tardini which can host up to 29,000 spectators. Also volleyball, women basketball, rugby union and baseball have large popularity in the city and have scored relevant successes.

Parma is also home to two rugby union teams in the top national division, Overmach Rugby Parma and SKG Gran Rugby.

[edit] Miscellaneous

Parma hosts the Teatro Regio, a famous opera theatre.

Stendhal set much of his masterpiece (The Charterhouse of Parma) in the city, even though there was no "Charterhouse" in real life.

John Grisham's novel Playing for Pizza is predominantly set in Parma. It is about an American professional football quarterback who plays for the local American football team, the Parma Panthers.

Detail of Correggio's frescoes in the Camera di San Paolo.
Detail of Correggio's frescoes in the Camera di San Paolo.

[edit] Painters and sculptors of Parma

[edit] Other famous people from Parma


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[edit] See also

[edit] External links


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Emilia-Romagna · Comuni of the Province of Parma
Emilia-Romagna Province of Parma