Parma: Correggio, the Teatro Farnese and Torrechiara Castle
The Pilotta with the Teatro Farnese, the Cathedral with Correggio's dome and the pink Baptistery in the morning, the castle in the prosciutto hills in the afternoon.
Parma is the city of the Farnese and Bourbon dynasties, of Giuseppe Verdi and Parmigiano Reggiano cheese: since 2015 it has been a UNESCO Creative City for gastronomy. In the morning you'll visit the Pilotta Complex with the Teatro Farnese, built entirely of wood, then the Cathedral with its dome frescoed by Correggio, the Baptistery by Benedetto Antelami and the Camera di San Paolo. After lunch you'll head up into the prosciutto hills to Torrechiara Castle.
Length from Castel San Pietro Terme9 h 15 Full day
Driving4 h 00 · 290 km there and back
Visits and stops4 h 15
When to goAll year round (the Pilotta Complex is closed on Mondays)
The plan from Castel San Pietro Terme
Leave Castel San Pietro Terme for Parma, the Pilotta and the Cathedral1 h 35 driving, 128 km
Parma, the Pilotta and the Cathedral2 h 55 of visits: The Pilotta and the Teatro Farnese, The Cathedral and the Baptistery, The Camera di San Paolo
Lunch in Parma1 h 00 of visits: in the centre: anolini in brodo, tortelli d'erbetta, Parma ham and Parmigiano Reggiano, Lambrusco or Malvasia wine.
Drive on to Torrechiara Castle35 min driving, 28 km
Torrechiara Castle1 h 20 of visits: Torrechiara Castle and the Camera d'Oro
Drive back to Castel San Pietro Terme1 h 50 driving, 134 km
Back in Castel San Pietro Terme
Times are a guide: driving times are worked out without traffic, then come the visits and ten minutes at every stop to park. In summer towards the coast and at rush hour allow extra time.
What you will see
1Parma, the Pilotta and the Cathedral
The Pilotta and the Teatro Farnese 75 min
The great Farnese palace, begun in the late sixteenth century, takes its name from pelota, the ball game that was played in its courtyards. Inside is the Teatro Farnese, built in 1618 by Giovan Battista Aleotti entirely in wood, with a U-shaped cavea for thousands of spectators: it was destroyed by bombs in 1944 and rebuilt. Then there's the National Gallery, with Leonardo's 'Scapigliata', works by Correggio and Parmigianino's 'Schiava turca'.
Closed on Mondays. A single ticket covers both the theatre and the gallery.
The Cathedral and the Baptistery 45 min
The Romanesque cathedral was consecrated in 1106. Inside, the dome shows Correggio's Assumption of the Virgin, painted between 1526 and 1530: a whirlwind of angels and clouds that seems to break through the roof. Next to it stands the Baptistery, begun in 1196 by Benedetto Antelami: octagonal, in pink Verona marble, with sculptures of the months and seasons inside, one of the masterpieces of the Italian Middle Ages.
The Cathedral is free; the Baptistery requires a ticket.
The Camera di San Paolo 20 min
This was the private room of the abbess Giovanna da Piacenza, in the Benedictine monastery of San Paolo. In 1519 the young Correggio painted the vault as a pergola of leaves, with putti peering out from oval windows and, above the fireplace, Diana on her chariot. It's one of the painter's earliest works and a surprise for anyone who doesn't know it.
Admission charge; included in the Pilotta ticket.
2Torrechiara Castle
Torrechiara Castle and the Camera d'Oro 60 min
Pier Maria Rossi had it built between 1448 and 1460 on a hill above the River Parma, with four towers and a triple ring of walls. He also wanted it as a love nest for Bianca Pellegrini: in the Camera d'Oro, frescoed by Benedetto Bembo, their portraits and the castles of the Rossi fiefdom run along the walls. From the terraces you can see the hills where Parma ham is aged. The film Ladyhawke was shot here.
Admission charge; closed on Mondays.
Tips
On Mondays the Pilotta and the castle are closed: another day trip would be better then.
In Langhirano, below Torrechiara, many prosciutto producers offer visits and tastings by appointment.
Parmigiano Reggiano dairies can only be visited early in the morning, when the cheese is being made: that's a different day out.
The same trip from other towns
How long it takes from each town, the drive back included. Tap a town to see the plan from there.
Almost every old town has a limited traffic zone (ZTL) with cameras: park outside and walk in. The fine reaches your home, abroad too. ZTL and car parks town by town
This trip with a driver
Romagna Transfer picks you up at your hotel, drops you in front of every stop and brings you back: no parking, no ZTL, and the wine is yours to enjoy.
Trips written by our editors from the facts of our monument pages and the official sites. Opening days and hours change: the note under every place tells you what to check before you leave. No prices: you find them on the museums' sites.
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