Parma historical timeline

Parma was founded as a Roman colony in 183 BC on the Via Emilia, and the street grid of the centre still follows that layout. Its medieval period produced the cathedral and the baptistery, the latter begun in 1196 by Benedetto Antelami, who both designed it and carved much of it — an unusual combination.

From 1545 the city was the capital of the Duchy of Parma and Piacenza, created by Pope Paul III for his son and held by the Farnese, then the Bourbons. The Farnese built the Pilotta and, inside it, the Teatro Farnese of 1618 — among the first theatres anywhere with a permanent proscenium arch and movable scenery.

The duchy’s best-remembered ruler arrived in 1816: Marie Louise of Austria, Napoleon’s second wife, given Parma after his fall. She is still spoken of warmly here, which is not the usual fate of an imposed sovereign, and she founded much of the city’s civic infrastructure.

Parma was heavily bombed in the Second World War as a rail junction, and the Teatro Farnese was among the buildings destroyed; what stands now is a post-war reconstruction. The city was also a centre of armed resistance, and the Oltretorrente fought off a fascist assault in 1922.