Vittorio Bottego

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Monument to Vittorio Bottego by Ettore Ximenes, 1907
Piazzale Dalla Chiesa
Parma, May 2024

“This monument, which dates back to 1907, is work of the sculptor architect from Palermo Ettore Ximenes and it was projected for free because of the friendship which bound the sculptor to Vittorio Bottego. An ample tank gathers the waters gushing out from the monument formed by a tall boulders pedestal, which on the bronze statue rises from, Bottego in colonial troops uniform facing toward East. By the sides, the two Gauloises warriors represent the rivers Giuba and Omo. The monument is situated in Piazzale dalla Chiesa, in front of the railway station.” (Vittorio Bottego monument, Parma Welcome)

Teatro Regio

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Teatro Regio
Strada Garibaldi
Parma, May 2024

“Teatro Regio di Parma, originally constructed as the Nuovo Teatro Ducale (New Ducal Theatre), is an opera house and opera company in Parma, Italy. Replacing an obsolete house, the new Ducale achieved prominence in the years after 1829, and especially so after the composer Giuseppe Verdi, who was born near Busseto, some thirty kilometres away, had achieved fame. Also well known in Parma was the conductor Arturo Toscanini, born there in 1867. As has been noted by Lee Marshall, ‘while not as well known as La Scala in Milan or La Fenice in Venice, the city’s Teatro Regio... is considered by opera buffs to be one of the true homes of the great Italian tradition, and the well-informed audience is famous for giving voice to its approval or disapproval – not just from the gallery.’ The 1,400-seat auditorium, with four tiers of boxes topped by a gallery, was inaugurated on 16 May 1829 when it presented the premiere of Vincenzo Bellini's ‘Zaira’, a production which was staged another seven times, although it did not prove to be popular with the Parma audiences. Initially Rossini had been invited to compose a work for the inauguration of the house, but he was too busy and so the task fell to Bellini. However, that inaugural season saw three Rossini operas staged, including ‘Moïse et Pharaon’, ‘Semiramide’, and ‘Il barbiere di Siviglia’.” (Teatro Regio, Wikipedia)

Cittadella di Parma

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Cittadella di Parma (Cittadella di Parma)
Parco Cittadella
Parma, May 2024

“The Citadel of Parma (Italian: Cittadella di Parma) is a pentagonal fortress built in the Emilian city in the last years of the 16th century. The structure was erected at the behest of the Duke of Parma and Piacenza Alessandro Farnese and entrusted to the engineers Giovanni Antonio Stirpio de' Brunelli and Genesio Bresciani with the collaboration of Smeraldo Smeraldi. To build it, the Maggiore canal was diverted, whose course was joined with that of the Comune canal up to the Porta Nuova (today's Barriera Farini). Created for defensive purposes, and for this reason equipped with ramparts and moats, it was later used as barracks, as a prison for political crimes and as a place for executions. Between the late 20th and early 21st centuries, the fortress, which retains its original pentagonal shape, was renovated and used as a public park, with spaces dedicated to sports and children's activities. The structure has five bastions. The main entrance, characterized by a monumental facade in Angera stone, is to the north, while the other, the Porta del Soccorso, is to the south. The main entrance gate, designed by Simone Moschino and built by Giambattista Carra in 1596, has been preserved without later modifications.” (Citadel of Parma, Wikipedia)

Stadio Ennio Tardini

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Stadio Ennio Tardini
Viale Partigiani d'Italia
Parma, May 2024

“Stadio Ennio Tardini, commonly referred to as just Il Tardini, is a football stadium in Parma, Italy, located near the centre of Parma, between the town centre and the city walls. It is the home of Parma Calcio 1913. The stadium was built in 1923 and was named after one of Parma's former presidents, Ennio Tardini. The stadium is the nineteenth largest football stadium in Italy and the second largest in Emilia–Romagna with a capacity of 22,352 spectators. The stadium is the sixth oldest Italian football ground still in use.” (Stadio Ennio Tardini, Wikipedia)

Ercole e Anteo

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Ercole e Anteo (Hercules and Antaeus) by Teodoro Vanderstruck, 1687
Palazzo Cusani (Casa della Musica)
Piazzale San Francesco
Parma, May 2024

“The copper sculpture group of Hercules and Antaeus was created between 1684 and 1687 by the Flemish sculptor Van der Struck based on a design by Reti, at the Ducal Hammersmith in Colorno. The statue, depicting the fight between the mythological hero Hercules and the giant Antaeus, was intended to be an integral part of the fountain, as the water flowed directly from Antaeus' mouth. Today the original is located in the center of the courtyard of Palazzo Cusani, known as the House of Music, while the copy is in Via Repubblica leaning against the Palazzo del Comune in Parma. The statue was commissioned by Ranuccio II Farnese in 1684, to decorate a new fountain in the Ducal Garden. In fact, in that period various works were started to arrange the park in view of the wedding of Ranuccio's son, Odoardo III. The work was completed only in 1689, even if the engraving on the foot of Antaeus is dated 1687. The statue walking through the city The statue was dismantled around the middle of the eighteenth century on the occasion of the restructuring of the garden by Petitot. In May 1784 the sculptural group was requested from Duke Ferdinando by Count Cesare Ventura to be placed under the loggia of the internal courtyard of the Palazzo della Zecca di Governo, the current Casa della Musica.” (Ercole e Anteo, Talking Teens)

Monumento alla Vittoria

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Monumento alla Vittoria (Victory monument) by Lamberto Cusani, 1920
Viale Toschi
Parma, May 2024

“Conceived by Lamberto Cusani (1920), the part in marble almost totally prepared by the soldiers and legionaries of the Scuola di applicazione di Fanteria di Parma, the part in bronze modeled by Ettore Ximenes, melted at the military arsenal in Turin with the metal taken from enemy, the monument was inaugurated on the 27th of September 1931 at the presence of king Vittorio Emanuele the Third. A high column with capital in cement faced with marble from Verona is risen by a solid plinth made of stone from the Grappa. A bronze frieze winds the shaft on which a long sword adheres. A winged female figure, placed on a bronzy sphere - supported by the capital - represents the Victoria and concludes the 10 meters column. The monument is located along Avenue Toschi, proceeding from the railway station toward the city center, on the right side.” (Victory monument, Parma Welcome)

Monumento al Correggio

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Monumento al Correggio (Monument to Correggio) by Agostino Ferrari, 1870
Piazza Garibaldi
Parma, May 2024

“The monument dedicated to painter Antonio Allegri also known as Correggio is located next to the Town Hall palace in Garibaldi square. It was sculpted by Agostino Ferrari in 1870. It represents Correggio in the act of observing his own work by placing it with one hand above his knee while with the other placed close to his ear he holds a brush as if to correct his execution, he has been the subject of repeated misfortunes, as when his head while the sculptor was working on the statue or when the same head was struck by lightning in 1982 and fell tumbling to the ground.” (Correggio monument, Parma Welcome)

Monumento al Parmigianino

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Monumento al Parmigianino (Monument to Parmigianino) by Giovanni Chierici, 1879
Piazza della Steccata
Parma, May 2024

“The Monumento al Parmigianino is a monument dedicated to the Mannerist painter Francesco Mazzola, also known as Parmigianino, located in Parma, Italy. It was erected in 1879 after the unification of Italy. The monument is a white marble statue of Parmigianino, created by Giovanni Chierici, and forms part of a drinking fountain. It is situated in Piazza della Steccata, near the Basilica di Santa Maria della Steccata, where the statue is visible on a small square behind the church.” (Monumento al Parmigianino, AIO)

Piazzale della Pace

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Fountain of Piazzale della Pace
Strada Garibaldi
Parma, May 2024

“The garden is characterised by large English lawns and large paved spaces, bordered by tall plants; next to the Pilotta palace there is a large fountain, designed by Mario Botta on the site of the ancient church of San Pietro Martire, demolished in the Napoleonic era.” (Piazzale della Pace, Wikipedia)

Casinetto Petitot

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Casinetto Petitot by Ennemond Alexandre Petitot, 1766
Piazzale Risorgimento
Parma, May 2024

“The Casinetto Petitot, known simply as Petitot, is a small building with neoclassical shapes, located in the center of Piazzale Risorgimento in Parma. It is considered one of the first Italian coffees. In 1759 the ducal prime minister Guillaume du Tillot commissioned the court architect Ennemond Alexandre Petitot with the design of a large tree-lined avenue south of the city centre, with the aim of creating an elegant boulevard intended for public walking, modeled on the great European capitals. At the eastern end, on a corner of the then existing walls, the Stradone should have ended with a refined café, scenically placed in a raised position with respect to the avenue. The small building was supposed to be a meeting place not only for the nobles and upper middle classes, but also for the intellectuals of the time, precisely at the moment in which the first Enlightenment ideals began to spread in Europe. Furthermore, thanks to its elevated position, it had to act as a lookout, since from the terrace at the top you could enjoy the panorama of both the city and the surrounding countryside. Its construction, entirely financed by Duke Philip of Bourbon, began on 22 October 1762 when the tracing of the large avenue had already begun, which was inaugurated together with the little house in the presence of the Duke on 24 June 1766, during the night of Saint John. Currently the casino stands in the center of the busy Piazzale Risorgimento and, although it has no longer been used as a café for decades, it is still home to various clubs; in 2019 it was entrusted to the Mind for Music association.” (Casinetto Petitot, Wikipedia)

San Sepolcro

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San Sepolcro (Church of the Holy Sepulchre)
Strada della Repubblica
Parma, May 2024

“San Sepolcro is a Roman Catholic church in central Parma, Italy. While a church at the site is documented from the 12th-century, the church on the present layout was built circa 1257 in a Gothic-style. It would have been located then outside of the medieval walls of Parma. The structure underwent various refurbishments, with the facade decoration in a more classical style was added during 1505-1506, work attributed to Bartolomeo Pradesoli and Jacopo di Modena. The nave and the flank facing Strada della Repubblica was not completed in its present Neoclassic style until the 1700s. The 1616 bell-tower is attributed to the architects Malosso or Simone Moschino. The top was not added till 1753. The wooden ceiling was carved between 1613 and 1617 by Lorenzo Zaniboni and Giacomo Trioli.” (San Sepolcro, Wikipedia)

Casa del suono

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Casa del suono (House of Sound)
Piazzale D'Acquisto
Parma, May 2024

“The ‘Casa del suono’ (House of Sound) is a museum in Parma, dedicated to the history and evolution of instruments for reproducing and transmitting sounds. The House of Sound was opened to the public on 24 May 2007 inside the deconsecrated seventeenth-century church of Santa Elisabetta, at the end of the renovation works on the building.” (Casa del suono, Wikipedia)

Santa Maria del Quartiere

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Santa Maria del Quartiere by Giovan Battista Aleotti, 1604
Piazza Picelli
Parma, May 2024

“Santa Maria del Quartiere is a Baroque-style church in the quarter of the Oltretorrente of the city of Parma, Italy. The church was built inside the medieval walls from 1604 to 1619, on the site of a prior chapel dedicated to Mary, adjacent to the quarters for troops of the Duchy, hence its name. The design has been attributed to the Ferrarese architect Giovan Battista Aleotti. Atypical for most post-Reformation rectangular church naves, and more consistent with its role as a votive church built to honor an icon, the nave of this church is a centralized hexagonal plan.” (Santa Maria del Quartiere, Wikipedia)

Fontana del Trianon

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Fontana del Trianon (Trianon Fountain) by Giuliano Mozzani, 1719
Parco Ducale
Parma, May 2024

“The Trianon Fountain is a monumental fountain with baroque forms located on the islet in the centre of the fishpond of the Ducal Park in Parma. The monumental fountain was built between 1712 and 1719 for the garden of the Royal Palace of Colorno at the behest of Duke Francesco Farnese, who commissioned the architect and sculptor Giuliano Mozzani to design the project; the latter, assisted by the French hydraulic engineer Jean Baillieul, created a copy of the fountain of the Grand Trianon in Versailles, built by Jules Hardouin-Mansart in 1703. Following partial damage suffered in 1882 by patients of the psychiatric hospital, the fountain was dismantled and ten statues were sold. Having remained in storage for some years, it was reassembled in 1889 by the sculptor Giovanni Chierici and initially placed in Parma in front of the Reinach Theatre. In 1920, on the occasion of the general reorganisation of the Ducal Park by the scenographer Giuseppe Carmignani, the fountain was moved to the islet in the centre of the fish pond. In 1996 it was completely restored with funding from the Cariparma Foundation.” (Fontana del Trianon, Wikipedia)

Gruppo del Sileno

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Gruppo del Sileno by Jean-Baptiste Boudard, 1766
Parco Ducale
Parma, May 2024

“To accentuate the bucolic effect, Petitot also modified the surrounding area, creating a slight slope towards the ‘Silenus Group’, a statuary group sculpted in 1765 by Jean-Baptiste Boudard, with fake bases and steps, inside a thick wood; he also designed a wooden canalization, now disappeared, which, in addition to allowing the filling of the internal basin, created the effect of a spring from which a stream flowed.” (Tempietto d'Arcadia, Wikipedia)

Tempietto d'Arcadia

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Tempietto d'Arcadia by Ennemond Alexandre Petitot, 1769
Parco Ducale
Parma, May 2024

“The Tempietto d'Arcadia is a small circular temple in the form of a ruin located in the Ducal Park in Parma. The small temple was built in 1769 based on a design by the court architect Ennemond Alexandre Petitot, who, according to neoclassical taste, drew inspiration from the temple of Vesta on the Aniene; it was inaugurated on the occasion of the wedding between Duke Ferdinand of Bourbon and Maria Amalia of Habsburg-Lorraine with a bucolic party, during which the guests dressed up as shepherds and shepherdesses.” (Tempietto d'Arcadia, Wikipedia)

Teatro al Parco

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Teatro al Parco
Parco Ducale
Parma, May 2024

“The Teatro al Parco is a permanent theatre in Parma, located inside the Ducal Park. The building was constructed between 1939 and 1941 as a venue for trade fairs on the initiative of the Municipality of Parma, which commissioned the project to engineer Ugo Pescatori. The exhibitions, called from the following year Mostre delle Conserve Alimentari, forerunners of today's Cibus, were held annually in the pavilion for about forty years without interruption, with the exception of a parenthesis during the Second World War, until the construction in 1985 of the exhibition centre near Baganzola. In 1987 the Municipality decided to use the now unused building as a public theatre, subsequently entrusting it, by agreement, to the ‘Compagnia delle Briciole’, founded in 1976 in Reggio Emilia and moved to Parma in 1979, where in 1981 it established the Stable Centre in Italy for the Production, Programming and Research of Children's and Youth Theatre, which later became the Stable Theatre of Innovation. In the early 2000s the building was completely renovated, creating a 400-seat hall and a 150-seat hall.” (Teatro al Parco, Wikipedia)

San Pietro Apostolo

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Church of San Pietro Apostolo
Piazza Garibaldi
Parma, May 2024

“San Pietro or San Pietro Apostolo is a Neoclassic-style, Roman Catholic church located on Piazza Garibaldi in Parma. A church of San Pietro in Parma is first mentioned in the year 955. Tradition holds that it was erected atop the remains of an Ancient Roman temple dedicated to Jove. It was rebuilt during the 15th century in Gothic-style by Cristoforo Zaneschi. In the early 16th-century papal bull by Pope Leo X describes it as a collegiate church, Collegio di San Girolamo, with 12 priests. The present church was designed by Ennemond Alexandre Petitot, who replaced the prior facade, construction started in 1707 but was not completed till 1762. The façade is decorated with the papal symbols of the tiara, festoons, and keys, in a design by Petitot and modeled in stucco by Benigno Bossi. The nave ceiling and cupola are frescoed by Giovanni Antonio Vezzani.” (San Pietro, Wikipedia)

Santa Maria della Steccata

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Sanctuary of Santa Maria della Steccata
Strada Garibaldi
Parma, May 2024

“A short stroll away on the Plaza of Peace, a statue of ‘Il Partigiano’ (The Partisan) stands in sharp contrast to the name of its location and the patrician surroundings. The partigiani engaged in left-wing resistance to fascism during World War II, and the burly figure, gun in hand, represents that fierce struggle, with a dead compatriot lying behind him. The latter is doubly symbolic: the monument was inaugurated in 1956 by the then-mayor and provincial president of Parma, both ex-partigiani. Five years later a young political extremist tried to blow up the statue and the ‘fallen comrade’ was damaged. It was subsequently repaired and removed to a local cemetery, while the bronze body lying behind the Partigiano today is a copy.” (Sanctuary of Santa Maria della Steccata, Wikipedia)

Monument to the Partisan

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Monument to the Partisan by Marino Mazzacurati, 1964
Piazzale della Pace
Parma, May 2024

“A short stroll away on the Plaza of Peace, a statue of ‘Il Partigiano’ (The Partisan) stands in sharp contrast to the name of its location and the patrician surroundings. The partigiani engaged in left-wing resistance to fascism during World War II, and the burly figure, gun in hand, represents that fierce struggle, with a dead compatriot lying behind him. The latter is doubly symbolic: the monument was inaugurated in 1956 by the then-mayor and provincial president of Parma, both ex-partigiani. Five years later a young political extremist tried to blow up the statue and the ‘fallen comrade’ was damaged. It was subsequently repaired and removed to a local cemetery, while the bronze body lying behind the Partigiano today is a copy.” (A phone call from a statue in Parma, Perceptive Travel)