Parma is a city of 200,000 in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy and one of the great food cities of the world — home to Parmigiano-Reggiano (the king of cheeses, produced in the province since 1248), Prosciutto di Parma (the air-cured ham, the finest in Italy by production volume and international recognition), culatello di Zibello (the most prized cured meat in Italy, made from the muscular heart of the pig's thigh, aged in the fog of the Po River plain), and tortelli d'erbetta (the local pasta, unlike any other — thin pasta sheets filled with ricotta and fresh herbs, served with butter and Parmigiano). The city is also the birthplace of Arturo Toscanini (1867–1957, the greatest conductor of the 20th century) and the home of the Teatro Regio di Parma (one of Italy's finest opera houses, where the famously harsh Parma audience would whistle a mediocre soprano off the stage — the loggionisti of Parma are the most feared opera critics in Italy). Parma's art historical claim is equally strong: the Camera di San Paolo (1519, the frescoed room by Correggio considered his first masterpiece) and the dome of Parma Cathedral (1526–1530, Correggio's Assumption of the Virgin, the most dynamic ceiling fresco before Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel) are two of the supreme achievements of Italian Renaissance painting. The Baptistery (1196–1270) adjacent to the Cathedral is the finest Romanesque baptistery in northern Italy with pink Verona marble and the extraordinary sculptural program of Benedetto Antelami.
The Romanesque Cathedral (1106) has Correggio's "Assumption of the Virgin" fresco in the dome (1526–1530) — a swirling 13-metre vision of Christ and 88 figures ascending through golden light that was so radical one viewer called it "a hash of frogs' legs"; the fresco initiated the illusionistic ceiling painting tradition that culminated in the Baroque.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideThe pink Verona marble octagonal baptistery (1196–1270) is the finest Romanesque-to-Gothic baptistery in northern Italy — the 16 sculptural reliefs of the Months, Seasons and Zodiac by Benedetto Antelami are among the masterpieces of Italian medieval sculpture; the interior dome has Byzantine-influenced frescoes from the 13th century.
The authentic Parma lunch: Prosciutto di Parma (aged 12–36 months, sweet and delicate, PDO protected) with Parmigiano-Reggiano (at least 24 months aged, DOP protected, with the characteristic crystalline texture from tyrosine crystals), with a glass of Lambrusco (the slightly sparkling red wine of the Po Valley, the traditional accompaniment).
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideThe central square has the 1326 Palazzo del Governatore with its 1760 astronomical clock (one of the most elaborate in Italy, showing the zodiac, phases of the moon and time of sunrise/sunset) — the arcaded 16th-century streets around the piazza are among the best-preserved in Emilia-Romagna.
The aperitivo hour in Parma has a distinctive Emilian tradition — a glass of Malvasia di Candia (the aromatic local white wine) or Verdicchio with a selection of culatello and coppa on the counter; dinner at a traditional trattoria with tortelli d'erbetta (the Parma pasta, filled with ricotta and fresh herbs, dressed only with butter and Parmigiano — any other sauce is considered an insult).
The abbess's reception room at the Benedictine convent of San Paolo has Correggio's painted pergola ceiling (1519) — a trompe l'oeil arbour with putti peering through the openings, Diana lunettes above, and a room so intimate and playful that it effectively reinvented the relationship between art and domestic space; now considered Correggio's first masterpiece.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideThe enormous Farnese ducal palace (1583) contains the National Gallery of Parma (works by Correggio, Parmigianino and Canaletto) and the Teatro Farnese (1618) — the first large permanent theatre with a horseshoe-shaped audience seating and the first use of a permanent proscenium arch in Europe; the theatre is built entirely of wood and designed by Giovan Battista Aleotti.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideThe house on Via Tanzi where Arturo Toscanini was born in 1867 is preserved as a small museum — the photographs, batons, scores and recordings of the man who conducted La Scala, the Metropolitan Opera and the NBC Symphony Orchestra (his radio concerts reaching 10 million listeners) in an intimate domestic setting.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideThe Teatro Regio di Parma (1829) is one of Italy's most important opera houses — the famously demanding Parma audience (the loggionisti in the upper gallery) have been known to whistle mediocre performances off the stage since the 19th century; a performance here is an opera experience unlike any other in Italy.
The culatello (the muscular heart of the pig's thigh, deboned, massaged into a pear shape in a pig bladder and aged 10–36 months in the river fog of the Po Valley) is the most expensive and prized cured meat in Italy — visits to artisan producers in the Bassa Parmense (Zibello, Polesine Parmense) require advance booking but are unforgettable for serious food lovers.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideThe 18th-century Farnese-then-Bourbon palace on the Po River (25 km from Parma) is called the "little Versailles of the Padan Plain" — the French-designed formal gardens, the state rooms with original Bourbon furnishings and the position on the Po River levee bank make it the finest royal palace in Emilia-Romagna.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideThe Parmigiano-Reggiano production dairies (caseifici) in the Parma province work every morning from 05:00 — afternoon visits (by appointment) allow visitors to see the 40 kg wheels being salted, aged and stamped; the production process (unchanged since 1248) and the quality grading procedure (the hammer test on each wheel) are extraordinary to witness.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideCotechino (a soft, fatty pork sausage boiled in its casing, served with braised lentils — traditionally a New Year's Eve dish but served year-round in Parma trattorias) followed by zuppa inglese (Italian trifle, the Emilian dessert) and a glass of aged Malvasia dei Colli Piacentini at a local osteria.