Parma, City of Europe: arts and music that charm writers, poets and tourists
Parma is a deeply European city. Over the centuries, it has been the centre of relations between the main European capitals, a role that became particularly significant after the Farnese period and before Marie Louise, in the mid-eighteenth century, thanks to Duke Philip of Bourbon, who was the son of the king of Spain and who was married to Louise Elisabeth, Louis XV's daughter. This land has always been a crossroad for cultures and races. Marcel Proust used to describe it as “mauve in colour and sweet” and Stendhal chose it as the setting for his famous Charterhouse.
Parma has for centuries been a centre of attraction for tourists who love the arts , music and good food . Antelami, Correggio, Parmigianino, Verdi, Toscanini are world-famous and still exercise their force of attraction through the remarkable works they left behind.
The National Gallery demonstrates the richness of the city's culture with a number of paintings by famous artists such as Beato Angelico, Leonardo, Correggio, Parmigianino, El Greco, Carracci, Lanfranco, Van Dyck, Guercino, Pourbus the Younger, Tiepolo, Canaletto, Bellotto.
Memorabilia of Marie Louise, Napoleon's wife, have been collected in the Glauco Lombardi Museum. An immense heritage of books (700 thousand volumes with incunabula and the largest collection of Hebrew illuminated manuscripts) is preserved in the Palatine Library, which also houses the museum dedicated to Bodoni, the predecessor of modern printers.
Another architectural masterpiece is the Farnese Theatre (1618), the first European Theatre with a mobile stage. Music has its own temple in the nineteenth-century Teatro Regio, where the most famous opera singers face a passionate and knowledgeable audience. The house where Toscanini was born has been made into a museum. You can visit Roncole, Busseto and S. Agata, where Giuseppe Verdi was born and lived.
There are a number of castles in the countryside around Parma: Torrechiara, Fontanellato, San Secondo, Soragna, the Royal Palace of Colorno, Montechiarugolo, Felino, Sala, Bardi.
The Fondazione Magnani Rocca exhibits works by Titian, Dürer, Rubens, Van Dyck, Cézanne, Monet, Renoir, Morandi and De Stahel.
This wealth of monuments, theatres and collections are evidence of an historical people that has always looked well beyond its city's and its national boundaries with an international spirit that is still truly alive.
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High quality of life
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Statistics show that Parma ranks among the first European cities for its quality of life.
Quality of life does not just mean economic wealth, but also social security and the enjoyment of the numerous activities it offers: music and theatre performances (there are ten theatres), concerts, cinemas, museums and libraries, art exhibitions, international antique (Gotha and Mercanteinfiera) and modern antique fairs, gourmet restaurants serving excellent tasty regional dishes, and numerous sports facilities.
Public and private health services are both of a very high quality.
Thanks to its central geographical location, Parma is only 30 minutes away from the Salsomaggiore spa, famous for its salt-bromide-iodine waters, liberty style buildings and high-quality accommodation, or from the Apennines which rise to an altitude of 1500 meters and are scattered with lakes.
Parma is less than one hundred kilometres from the picturesque Liguria coastline or Lake Garda, or even Milan or Bologna.
Again, the cities of Venice and Florence or the Alpine ski resorts are just two hours by car.
These vast and varied opportunities in the cultural, educational, spa, tourist and sports sectors, the efficiency of public services and easy connections provide superb – and really “European” - conditions to live in.
Connections
Parma lies at the heart of international traffic, and can be easily reached from any part of Italy and Europe. It is located at a strategic road and rail junction, ensuring not only fast and convenient mobility in and around town, but also rapid connections to the main Italian cities, via Milan and Rome and from there on.
Being located along
the railway connecting Milan to Rome, there are frequent
trains both north and southbound
(Eurostar, InterCity and InterRegional trains). >>
www.trenitalia.it
Through the Motorway connecting North to South of Italy (and thus the Mediterranean to the Northern areas of Europe), Parma can be easily and rapidly reached by car .
Moreover, the “Giuseppe Verdi” airport enables connection to the main European cities via the Rome hub.
The international airports of Milan Linate, Milan Malpensa, Milan Orio International, Bologna and Verona are only about 100 km away.
Six airports to be connected to Europe
CONVENIENT FLIGHT CONNECTIONS |
Airport |
Destination |
Distance from Parma |
How to get there |
Parma Airport ("Giuseppe Verdi")
www.aeroportoparma.it
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Domestic flights
Any international destination through the shuttle service to Rome Fiumicino |
1.5 km from city centre |
Shuttle Bus / Taxi |
Milan Malpensa Airport |
Any international flights |
1 h 30 min |
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Milan Linate Airport |
Any international flights |
50 min
50 min |
Autostrada
Ferrovia |
Bologna Airport |
Any international flights |
50 min
1 h |
Autostrada
Treno |
Milano Orio International Airport |
Any international flights |
1 h 30 min
1 h |
Autostrada
Treno |
Verona Airport |
Any international flights |
1 h
1 h 30 min |
Autostrada
Treno |
For further information, please visit these sites :
www.portale.parma.it
www.comune.parma.it
www.regione.emilia-romagna.it
www.turismo.comune.parma.it
www.emiliaromagnaturismo.it
http://www.regione.emilia-romagna.it/web_gest/madeiner/
www.enit.it
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