Parma

Next to the Cathedral the Baptistry, all in the rose locale marble stone, is one of the highest expressions of Romanesque-Gothic art in Italy. With octagonal shape, over the architrave of the northern portal towards Piazza della Vergine the monument bears the date of the beginning of construction (1196) and the name of Benedetto Antelami, who directed the works and realized almost all of the sculpted decorations of the building. The eastern portal is called "del Giudizio Finale" (of Final Judgement) and the southern called "della Vita" (of Life). All around the exterior a series of rose marble sculpted tiles runs with fantastic and real animals, symbols of life and nature in Middle Age. The solemn Gothic interior is subdivided by sixteen ribs which irradiate towards the pointed vault, converging in the keystone and ring. At the centre, the wide immersion baptism tub, also with octagonal shape, dates back to the end of the 13th century. All around the tambour of the dome a double series of niches runs delimited by walls and divided in three by slender little columns, and in every one as tatue should have been placed, but in fact the project kept unachieved and only some statues are there today. Still within the interior is the cycle of months and seasons, and the respective zodiacal signs sculpted in the Antelami. The entire surface of the dome is decorated with a splendid cycle of paintings in tempera of the second half of XII century. Via Emilia, made to be constructed by the Roman consul, Marco Emilio Lepido, at the beginning of the 2nd century B.C., leaving from ancient Ariminum (the modern-day Rimini) where the Salaria ended, crossing the Po Valley to Piacenza. On that ancient route, rose rows like pearls on a necklace, beautiful cities and towns which over the centuries were enriched by artistic treasures. And along the street or at a short distance from this is the Republic of San Marino, Sant' Archangelo di Romagna, Ravenna, Bologna, Ferrara, Modena, Sabbionetta, Parma, and finally Piacenza. It is a route worth dedicating a vacation (possibly not in August; it's very hot, nor in full-blown winter when there's often fog), stopping for at least one full day in each place; in some of these two days would be better. Between these is Parma, at the highest classification spot for quality of life; it's a city with a happy and friendly spirit with a strong artistic and cultural tradition in which prominent names stand out such as Benedetto Antelami, who gave us the Duomo and Baptistry, in rose marble from Verona; the Correggio, who worked on the Camera di San Paolo (St. Paul's Room) in San Giovanni Evangelista and in the Cathedral and "il Parmigianino" who frescoed the Church of Santa Maria della Steccata and parts of San Giovanni. Birthplace of Giuseppe Verdi, the city has a glorious tradition in the areas of music and theatre, fully embodied in the marvellous Regio Theater, wanted by Maria Luigia and inaugurated in 1829; it is one of the most famous theatres in the world and is joined with many other musical buildings. The centre of Parma is dominated by the huge building of Palazzo della Pilotta", worthy of the capital of a country, but born as service building of the court to be integrated with Palazzo Ducale. It was realized by the Farnese family in the 17th century and called "Palazzo della Pilotta" because the game "pelota" was played in one of the internal courtyards. Inside the building there is the Farnese Theater (1618), completely wooden and constructed on the model of the Palladiano Theatre of Venice. The building is also home to the National Gallery of Art with works by Parmigianino, Canova, Tiepolo, and Leonardo da Vinci. On the first floor there is the National Museum of the Middle Ages. The large piazzale-garden opposite has a lovely layout with greenery, water, trees, and areas to rest; it is the work of architect, M. Botta, from Ticino. But beyond the general pleasantry of the entire city centre and the high quality of many buildings, two to be taken calmly are the masterpieces of Benedetto Antelami: the Cathedral and the Baptistry. The Parma Stream brushes the historic centre and coasts the Ducal Park, within which is Palazzo Ducale. Today it has a classical appearance. It was constructed in 1561, designed by Vignola next to the new ducal gardens. The modern days appearance is, however, fruit of numerous episodes of remodelling, first by Bibiena and susequently in 1767 by Ennemond Petitot, an architect from Lyon who worked a lot in Parma.