Parma, history, art and culture

Visiting the centre Tours of the city
The entire historic centre can be visited on foot from the hotel. Just a few minutes' walk finds Palazzo della Pilotta, a fortress built by the Farnese family. It houses the Galleria Nazionale or National Gallery, a picture gallery boasting priceless works by artists such as Parmigianino, Correggio, Guercino and Van Dyck. On the ground floor visitors can see the Farnese Theatre, built entirely out of wood. The Archaeological Museum is on the top floor.

In front of the Pilotta we find the Camera di San Paolo, decorated by Correggio, and the Glauco Lombardi museum dedicated to Maria Luigia, wife of Emperor Napoleon.

Heading further into town, visitors reach the monumental area of the Duomo or Cathedral, also home to the soaring Battistero dell'Antelami baptistery, a blend of Romanesque and Gothic styles. The Cattedrale dell'Assunta cathedral is a Romanesque construction, the interior of which boasts a cupola by Correggio. The abbey of San Giovanni Evangelista has a church with a cupola decorated by Correggio and also houses the Antica Spezieria or Old Pharmacy, the Benedictine Monastery, and the Palazzo of the Bishop's See.

Cycling... Parma has an extensive network of cycle paths, and the city centre is off-limits to cars. A good reason, then, to follow the example set by Parma's inhabitants, who are inveterate bicycle users. The hotel places bicycles at the disposal of guests for getting around the city and centre, and for enjoying Parma as a whole.

Taking a stroll: places you can reach on foot
Piazza Duomo, the Cathedral, the Baptistery and the Teatro Regio theatre are all 500 metres away (5 minutes)
The Galleria Nazionale gallery, Pilotta and the Archaeological Museum (5 minutes)
Piazza Garibaldi and the main offices of Parma University are 1 km away (10 minutes)
Via Farini, where the centre's best bars are located: 15 minutes (1.5 km)
The Paganini Auditorium and Tardini stadium are 1.8 km away (20 minutes)

Itineraries out of town
The Prosciutto di Parma (Parma Ham) route
The Parmigiano Reggiano (Parmesan Cheese) route
The route of the castles

Parma in the world
Parma is renowned worldwide for its art, its culture and its food. The Teatro Regio theatre is a shrine to Opera. Maria Luigia ordered Bettoli to have it built in 1821.
It is here that the Opera season and the Verdi Festival are held each year.

In 2001, Parma went one step closer to becoming a music capital when the Paganini Auditorium designed by Renzo Piano was inaugurated in the former Eridania sugar works. This location now hosts the concert season of Teatro Regio's orchestra.

A crossroads for different cultures, Parma possesses an impressive heritage of artistic treasures. History can be felt in every corner of the city, throughout the monuments, churches, historic palazzos and narrow streets of the centre. The picture galleries full of works of art, the museums, the gardens that open out within the courtyards of the stately palazzos and the very city itself positively exude a genteel yet austere feeling of nobility.

Parma is also the land of its provinces, the Via Francigena pilgrimage route, as well as being home to dozens of castles and forest produce, such as the exquisite porcino or cep mushroom of Borgotaro. Chestnuts and walnuts can be collected on walks through the mountains, and visitors can also take in a trip to the spa towns of Salsomaggiore or Monticelli.

Parma is a focal point for wellness now famous worldwide owing to its outstanding food specialities.
The prosciutto or ham made in Langhirano, culatello ham from Zibello, spalla cotta from San Secondo, salame from Felino, Parmigiano Reggiano (Parmesan cheese) and the wines of Parma's hilly areas (Lambrusco and Malvasia) all go to make Parma an area positively overflowing with outstanding gastronomic produce.

Nor is there any shortage of gastronomic events, such as the Prosciutto ham festival, the National Truffle Fair held in Fragno, November Porc, the Valceno fete and the National porcino Mushroom fair, to name but a few.

In town, there is no shortage of restaurants in which you can enjoy all the mouth-watering specialities for which Parma is renowned: tortelli pasta parcels filled with Swiss Chard and potatoes, fragrant, mature cured meats, cappelletti pasta parcels filled with meat and cheese and served in broth, and steaming trolleys stacked with boiled and roasted meats.

Calling into one of the centre's pastry shops is a must. They serve up fragrant cannoncini alla crema (pastry rolls filled with custard cream), Viennese cakes that recall the Austrian mark left by Maria Luigia, and chocolates through which we rediscover the real flavour of genuine chocolate, finely veiled with the world-famous Parma violet.