Current Time in Parma, Italy

Parma is a city in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy, situated on the Po plain between Bologna and Milan along the ancient Via Emilia. With a population of approximately 199,000, it is the capital of the Province of Parma and one of the wealthiest and most culturally sophisticated cities in Italy. Parma is internationally celebrated for two of the world's most prized food products — Prosciutto di Parma (Parma ham) and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese — but the city's cultural heritage equally deserves recognition: its magnificent early Renaissance baptistery, its extraordinary frescoes by Correggio, and its prestigious opera house make Parma one of the richest small cities in Europe.

Parma was founded as a Roman colony in 183 BC and grew into an important town on the Via Emilia. In the sixteenth century it became the capital of the Duchy of Parma and Piacenza under the Farnese family, an aristocratic dynasty that produced Pope Paul III and whose patronage of the arts gave the city much of its current architectural character. The Palazzo della Pilotta, a vast unfinished palace begun by the Farnese in the sixteenth century, now serves as a complex of museums housing the National Gallery (Galleria Nazionale), the Palatine Library, and the Farnese Theatre — a magnificent early Baroque theatre built in wood in 1618 and recently restored, one of the earliest permanent indoor theatres in Europe.

The Cathedral of Parma and the adjacent Baptistery are the masterpieces of Romanesque architecture in the Po Valley. The Cathedral's interior is dominated by an extraordinary fresco of the Assumption of the Virgin painted by Antonio Allegri — known as Correggio — in the dome between 1526 and 1530. Correggio's revolutionary treatment of the dome as an illusionistic opening into the heavens, with figures foreshortened in extreme perspective swirling upward in dynamic movement, anticipates the great Baroque ceiling decorations of the seventeenth century by over a century and is one of the most important works of the Italian Renaissance. The Baptistery, an octagonal pink marble structure begun in 1196 by the sculptor Benedetto Antelami, is considered the most important Romanesque monument in northern Italy and contains an exceptional sculptural and fresco program.

The Camera di San Paolo in the monastery of San Paolo contains another cycle of extraordinary frescoes by Correggio — a secular decoration of mythological content painted around 1519 for the abbess Giovanna da Piacenza in a style of playful, sensuous elegance that prefigures the Rococo by two centuries. The Galleria Nazionale contains important works by Correggio, Parmigianino (another of Parma's great masters), Fra Angelico, and Van Dyck, among many others.

The Teatro Regio di Parma, built in the Neoclassical style and inaugurated in 1829, is one of Italy's most prestigious opera houses, renowned for the intensity and knowledge of its audience — Parmigiani are considered among the most demanding opera audiences in Italy, and a poor performance here can be devastating for a singer's career. The annual Festival Verdi, celebrating the composer Giuseppe Verdi who was born in the nearby village of Le Roncole, is one of Italy's most important opera festivals, attracting singers and conductors of international distinction.

The Prosciutto di Parma and Parmigiano-Reggiano industries are the pillars of the local agricultural economy. Both products carry Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) status and can only be produced according to strict specifications in defined geographical areas. Visiting a Prosciutto curing facility or a Parmigiano-Reggiano dairy in the surrounding hills is one of the most authentic food experiences available in Italy. Parma is connected by high-speed rail to Milan and Bologna and to the national network, and is served by Parma Airport with connections to several European cities.

Parma combines gastronomic excellence with artistic achievement of the highest order, offering visitors an experience of Italian civilization that is both deeply rooted in daily life and sustained by centuries of cultural ambition. It is one of Italy's most satisfying and consistently rewarding destinations.