Culture and history of the territory

The Palatine Library of Parma was founded on August 1st 1761, by Don Filippo di Borbone, Duke of Parma, Piacenza and Guastalla and has important manuscript and printed collections and is mainly oriented towards humanistic history. Currently it depends on the Ministry for Cultural Heritage and Activities and collects and preserves the national Italian publishing production and, through the compulsory deposit of printed matter, also the local production. Among his most significant funds are the Fondo parmense which undoubtedly constitutes the most substantial collection of the Library. Of this initial core we cannot fail to mention the Spanish fund of the Siglo de oro: the collection of works by Lope de Vega and Comedias de diferentes autores. In 1828 the Sovereign Maria Luigia bought from the engraver and painter Paolo Toschi, to donate it to the library, the Ortalli collection of prints and drawings, including 40,000 engravings to witness the European art of the 15th-19th centuries.

To this corpus of engravings were added later nine volumes of French portraits collected by Pietro Antonio Martini, and the 1067 pieces of the Balestra Collection. The most significant increase was then with the acquisition, desired by the Italian government in 1865 of the Palatine Fund, which includes 1034 manuscripts, many of them illuminated, of Italian, French and Flemish origin, 349 incunabula, and about thirty thousand volumes of the sixteenth-nineteenth centuries. Of great interest is also the collection of the Miscellaneous erudite (in folio, in 4 somebody, in 8 somebody), a collection of pamphlets printed mainly in the Duchy, from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century. The Ferrarini Fund, legacy of Mario Ferrarini musicologist and scholar of dramatic literature, the Fund Mansueto Tarchioni and a third Fund, said mixed, less known and less conspicuous than the other two, that collects about four hundred codes.

Discover the other places not to be missed in Parma

Duomo e battistero

Along with the Baptistery, Parma Cathedral is one of the most important monuments of the city for its beauty and historical importance.

Regio Theatre

The Teatro Regio di Parma, considered among the most prestigious and well-known in the world, was inaugurated on 16 May 1829 with Zaira, an opera specially composed for the occasion by Vincenzo Bellini.

Ducal Park

It has always been the “garden” of Parma. Built in 1561 as a private park, it was opened to the public only after the unification of Italy.

Pilotta Palace

Immense complex that takes its name from the game of Pelota, houses inside, among other things, the magnificent Palatine Library.

Farnese Theatre

Built in 1618 on the first floor of Palazzo Pilotta, the theatre is made entirely of wood and decorated with faux marble.

Sanctuary Santa Maria della Steccata

The church of the Steccata, a splendid example of Parmesan Renaissance architecture, was built on land that was once revered for a popular religious tradition.

Governor’s Palace and Piazza Garibaldi

Ideal location for temporary exhibitions and exhibitions, the Governor’s Palace dominates the central Piazza Garibaldi in Parma and tells a story that goes back
over 700 years ago.

Palatina Library