l'avventura grande: It's More Than Just Cheese

When most Americans think of Parma (Italy, not Ohio), this is what they think of:

It’s true, Parmesan cheese is the region’s best-known product. But, Parma has so much more to offer.

Parma lies in Italy’s Po Valley, perhaps the flattest part of a very hilly country. The Po was a boundary for the Roman Empire. Roman law said legions returning from the North had to disband before crossing the river.

When Julius Caesar’s legions did not, it signaled his intent to over-throw the Roman Republic.

Along the Po Valley, the Romans built settlements every 28 km, a day’s march for a legion. Parma grew from one of those settlements.

During the Middle Ages, Parma was one of a score of city-states that was a pawn in the power politics of the day. Often under the rule of the Sforzas in Milan, it joined with them forging a close alliance with the French.

Parma was long ruled by the Farnese family, who were great patrons of the arts and founded one of the oldest university’s in Europe…now noted for it’s engineering and technical departments.

The countryside around Parma is rife with 600 year-old castles.

The city government is housed in a Medieval palazzo in Piazza Garibaldi, the heart of downtown…which was the forum in Roman times.

The palazzo Pilotta, just a block from the main piazza, hosts a national archeological museum, art school, and library.

The most famous building from the Medieval period is the Cathedral’s Baptistery….

…a prime example of Gothic architecture…

…with an over-the-top ornate interior.

What sets Parma apart from most other Italian cities began in 1731, when a political deal ceded the duchy to the family of the French king. The new duke decided to rebuild the city to look more like home…