The train from Genova to Parma travels by fertile agricultural fields.
At the Parma train station, the elevator is broken. Surprise!! (hardly) and panic!! Usually the police at every station are there to help. But then I see a sign that says that the thoughtful Italian train service has provided a porter for just this situation.
The guy in the yellow vest takes my heavy bags down and up with enthusiasm and bids goodbye with his hand to his heart as they do wherever he comes from in Africa.
Piazza Garibaldi, the enormous main square in Parma, is bordered on one side by the Governor’s Palace.
I sign up for a walking tour of Parma at the tourist office. It takes us into the cathedral.
The artist who painted much of the nave included himself in one of the paintings.
The cathedral contains a variety of artistic styles from its upgrades over time. This chapel is owned by the city of Parma, and its frescoes seem similar to the style of Giotto.
Antonio da Correggio painted the cathedral’s dome in the early 1500’s. This depiction of the Assumption of the Virgin scandalized Correggio’s contemporaries.
Also in the cathedral is a beautiful carving by the sculptor Benedetto Antelami that once formed a side of the altar.
I found the Baptistery well worth a long visit.
Around the building were sculptures created by Antelami that represent the seasons and months of the year. They were taken from high up on the walls of the Baptistry and brought down temporarily to enable visitors to see them up close. Each figure represents a month.
I like the faces of frescoed figures on the Baptistry walls. Maybe this angel will visit me in my dreams.
Or this one. What would they have to say?
Here is King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, who both once adorned the exterior of the Baptistry.
Next we visit the Church of San Francesco del Prato, a church that Napoleon turned into a prison after stealing or destroying many of the church’s treasures.
The church remained a prison into the 1960s, for over 200 years housing dissidents, partisans, and criminals of all kinds, but it is now undergoing restoration. Our guide shows us a fragment of frescoes that remain. Restoring the rest will take decades.
I visit the Pilotta, a complex that houses a number of museums.
I’m impressed by the crown carved of wood over the entrance to the Teatro Farnese.
The archaeological museum displays this female figure from the 5th millennium B.C. with an explanation that says: “This statuette, the only one in Italy, represents “a lady of death and rebirth” as indicated by how slim she is and by her beak-like nose.” Really! A curator must have had some fun?
La Pilotta is also home to the Bodoni Museum. Giambattista Bodoni created his typographic masterpieces in Parma. The museum displays a very small part of his extensive collection of typographic items.
I visit the Spezieria di San Giovanni, an ancient pharmacy associated with the monastery of San Giovanni.
I have seen many antique pharmaceutical objects, and here many are no different, but the carved wooden cabinets are incredible.
As are the enormous mortar and pestles that stand about three feet high.
I’m very happy with my first couple of days in Parma. There’s a lot of interesting things to see here. Tomorrow I’ll see more.