Parma City: More To It Than The Ham And Cheese?

When I think of Parma, my thoughts go to cured ham and cheese but the small city in the Emilia-Romagna region of northwest Italy, has more to its reportoire than its food exports. We spent one day and a night in Parma on our Italian-French road trip.

To be honest, other than its namesakes Parma ham and parmesan, I knew little about the small city before visiting. So here’s a bit of background…

One of the most affluent cities in Italy, in 2015 Parma was recognised by UNESCO as being a Creative City for gastronomy – so you are unlikely to get a bad meal in the city! Opera is big too – hardly surprising as the composer Giuseppe Verdi was born in a nearby village. Classical music lovers flock to its famous opera house while Parma’s historic sights include the Romanesque 11th-century cathedral and its baptistery. It is also home to one of the world’s oldest universities and it has a famous football team which, until last year, played in Italian’s top league before going bankrupt and were relegated to the fourth division (serie D).

A Day Walk Around Parma

An hour’s drive from Bologna, we arrived in Parma around 11am. After checking into the NH hotel on the edge of town, we headed straight into town on foot, wandering past the palace (Palazzo della Pilotta) which now houses several museums including the national gallery.

Then it was past the famous opera house before coming to the main Piazza Garibaldi where a large statue of the great Italian nationalist Giuseppe Garibaldi stands. He was instrumental in creating a unified Italy in the 1800s and his statue is next to the Palazzo del Governatore – a striking building which is now home to government offices. 

We stopped for something to eat in the piazza – a far quieter and less touristy space than many popular Italian cities. The food was pretty good and Mrs T devoured her bowl of pasta (it really is hard to go wrong in Italy with a bowl of pasta and cheese).

Next we went to explore Parma’s more historical sights, its medieval cathedral and baptistery which make up the Piazza del Duomo. After several days in Italy you’d think we would be fed up of churches and yes, I was a bit ‘churched out’, but the interior of Parma cathedral is stunning.

Although undeniably Romanesque on the outside, the inside has really fascinating Baroque touches such as the elaborate black and gold pulpit.

Look up at the dome and it is covered in a fresco of cherubs created by artist Antonio da Correggio.

The relief of the Descent of the Cross by Benedetto Antelami, from 1178, is also a must-see in the cathedral.

Entry is free but you do have to pay to go into the baptistery which stands to the right of the cathedral. Tickets can be bought from the office to the left of the cathedral and for €8 you get a joint ticket into the nearby museum too (Museo Diocesano).

The baptistery is housed in an octagonal building of pink and white marble. It is beautiful to look from the outside and combines the two architectural eras it was constructed within, Romanesque and Gothic. Completed in 1307 (over one hundred years after work started), inside it is richly decorated with frescoes and reliefs. For some reason I thought it would be bigger inside but it really is a small, octagonal space.

Mrs T managed to sleep in her buggy throughout our visit to the religious sights so we spent a bit longer than we normally would. As we had paid to go to the museum, we gave it a quick look. It is filled with ancient sculptures and mosaics including a 5th-century piece discovered under the piazza in which it stands.

After so much sightseeing, a trip to a gelato shop was long overdue and we savoured our final Italian ice cream, agreeing they were some of the best we had ever tasted!

After wandering around the quaint streets of Parma, we headed to a rather fancy looking food store by the market area where we stocked up on pasta treats. A walk in the park then beckoned before we returned to the hotel for a rest until we went back out for dinner.

Relatively subdued and quiet during the day, Parma truly comes alive at night when people enjoy al fresco drinks and food. Parts of the city look even more beautiful in the evening with the gardens by the national museum covered in twinkling lights.

Of course, we couldn’t leave Parma without sampling its most famous exports. Our antipasti came with plentiful prosciutto and parmesan. Despite being pregnant, there was no way I was going to pass on the parma ham and I was not disappointed. The parmigiana reggiano was a bit strong to eat in huge quantity (and we were given a large chunk of the local cheese). My daughter (who always surprises us at some point with the local cuisine), happily chomped away at it. A meal isn’t complete without pasta washed down with the local Sangiovese red wine.

Verdict

Parma is a really compact city filled with charming cobbled streets, colourful buildings and impressive architecture. Although parma ham and parmesan are plentiful and the cuisine as a whole is exquisite, the city’s ancient sights are just as impressive and worth a look. For some reason, my husband and I weren’t as enamoured with Parma as we were with Bologna and Modena, perhaps in part because it was the last stop on our Italian trip, perhaps because we didn’t have as long there and the weather wasn’t quite as good but it is undeniably a beautiful city and probably one of the lesser visited places so less touristy (an added bonus). If you visit I would recommend spending one day (maximum two) in Parma. Just make sure you don’t leave without sampling the delicious prosciutto and attempting to finish a plate of parmesan cheese.