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Parma (170.000 inhabitants), city of art and culture, is an
important centre in Emilia Romagna region.
As etruscan origin, it later became a flourishing roman colony;
owing to its natural wealth as well as to its strategic position,
all through Middle Ages, it found itself in the middle of battles
and invasions, always keeping a leading role, to witch both the
wonderful Romanesque art landmarks of the Cathedral (XII century)
and of the Baptistere (XIII century) bear witness. Become
indipendent under the governement of the Farnese dinasty, the city
was enriched by precious architectural and historical landmarks that
contribute to creating an itinerary unique in charme all along the
historical centre streets. Parma still keeps intact the impressive
atmosphere of the dukesdome of witch it was the capital city from
1550 to 1859.
Over the Cathedral and Baptistere the main monuments are:
the Renaissance church of Saint John, made precious by the beautiful
Correggio's frescoes, the Baroque "Steccata" church. with
its overwhelming interiors bearing witness to the restless
Parmigianino's genious, the majestuos Pilotta's complex, hosting
inside the impressive Farnese Theatre and National Gallery, where
historical findings and important artworks are kept, the
scenographic Ducal Park, with the leading building of Ducal Palace,
once summer mansion of Maria Luigia (Napoleon's wife) nad now
prestigious seat of the "European Authority for Food Security",
the neoclassic regio Theatre, one of the leading Opera Houses in the
world. The country offers the opportunity to visit a lot of
impressive Middle Age castles such as: Fontanellato, Soragna, Bardi,
Montechiarugolo, San Secondo, Torrechiara and many others.
Keeper of a glorious past and bound to tradition, Parma is a open to
innovation and progress, economically in the vanguard, highly
productive in several industrial fields. It realizes its
socio-economical potential especially in the food domain, where the
agricultural tradiotion, bound to love and care for the land
products, is combined with the scientific value of both working and
transformation proceedings of the several industries. Parmesan
cheese, Parma ham, the culatello of Zibello, the salame of Felino,
the mushrooms of Valtaro, the wines of the colli di Parma, the black
trouffles of Fragno are the most precious stones ina shrine of
tipical products that bear witness to a high-quality wine and food
culture. That's why Parma has been chosen as the seat of the "European
Authority for food security", organism created by the Europen
Community with both control and certification duties over the
several proceedings of food chain, from growing to working and
transformation, in order to ensurethe quality of the products as
well as and to guarantee the public wealth. Parma is a leading
connection point among the main cities in northern Italy and
represent a vanguard economical model. Because of this combination
of art, culture, tradition, history and technical innovation Parma
is the ideal city to host one of the most important exhibition poles
in Italy and among the main ones in Europe.
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