Parma

Lore & Background

Parma was already a built-up area in the Bronze Age, with a terramare village. The city was most probably founded and named by the Etruscans. The Roman colony was founded in 183 BC. Parma had a certain importance as a road hub over the Via Aemilia and the Via Claudia. In April 43 BC the city was destroyed; subsequently Augustus rebuilt it. Attila sacked the city in 452. During the Gothic War, Totila destroyed it. It was then part of the Byzantine Exarchate of Ravenna and, from 569, of the Lombard Kingdom of Italy. During the Middle Ages, Parma became an important stage of the Via Francigena. Under Frankish rule, Parma became the capital of a county in 774. An almost independent commune was created around 1140. The struggle between Guelphs and Ghibellines was a feature of Parma. In 1213, its podestà was the Guelph Rambertino Buvalelli. The city was besieged in 1247–48 by Emperor Frederick II, who was defeated. By 1328, Rolando de' Rossi was made signore of Parma. Parma fell under the control of Milan in 1341. Between the 14th and 15th centuries, Parma was at the centre of the Italian Wars. In 1545, the Farnese pope Paul III detached Parma and Piacenza from the Papal States and gave them as a duchy to his illegitimate son, Pier Luigi Farnese. In 1731, Don Carlos became Charles I Duke of Parma and Piacenza. Parma was under French influence after the Peace of Aachen (1748). During the Napoleonic Wars (1802–1814), Parma was annexed to France and made capital of the Taro Department. After the restoration of the Duchy of Parma by the 1814–15 Vienna Congress, the Risorgimento's upheavals had no fertile ground in the tranquil duchy. On 15 September 1859 the dynasty was declared deposed, and Parma entered the newly formed province of Emilia.

In Their Own Story

The San Siro air hung heavy with anticipation, the floodlights cutting through a Milanese fog as two titans collided. On one side stood the Nerazzurri, anchored by a Ronaldo who seemed to defy gravity; on the other, Parma's wall of yellow and blue, a fortress led by a teenage Buffon in goal. The ball found Crespo, but before he could turn, Cannavaro was already there, sliding like a scalpel. It wasn't merely a match; it was a high-speed chess game where every tackle echoed like a gunshot and every save from the Parma keeper drew a roar that shook the stands. When the final whistle blew on another tense stalemate, both sets of fans knew they had witnessed history: the moment Inter's star power met an impenetrable wall.

Reader's Guide

Parma is known for its architecture, music, art, prosciutto, cheese and surrounding countryside. The city is home to the University of Parma, one of the oldest universities in the world. The Palatine Library houses the largest collection of Hebrew manuscripts in Italy, and the second-largest in the world after the Bodleian Library in Oxford. The city had a medieval Jewish community. Notable sites include the central Garibaldi Square (the site of the Roman forum), the cathedral, and the summer palace of the Sanseverino in Colorno turned into a luxurious summer palace by Ferdinando Bibiena. The Biblioteca Palatina, the Archaeological Museum, the Picture Gallery and the Botanical Garden were founded during the period of French influence.

Did You Know?

• Parma's Etruscan name was adapted by Romans to describe the round shield called Parma.
• The city was renamed Chrysopolis ('Golden City') during the Byzantine Exarchate of Ravenna.
• The Palatine Library in Parma holds the second-largest collection of Hebrew manuscripts in the world.
• Parma was the capital of the Taro Department during the Napoleonic Wars.