Top Rated Attractions in Parma

The museum is inspired by the four-century long Parma tradition of Opera. Housed in the 15th-century Palazzo Cusani, patrons get the opportunity to experience the themes, places and characters that have marked the journey up to present day as they browse through the fascinating collection. One of the best ways to know about and immerse yourself in the local history and culture, a day at Casa della Musica will be will-remembered, especially for the opera-lovers.

The Casa del Suono is a museum dedicated to the history of audio technology housed in a fourth-century building formerly known as the Sant'Elisabetta Church. The museum's collections include vintage radios, Edison's phonographs and "modern" equipment dating up to the nineteen sixties.

Located in the heart of Parma, San Francesco del Prato was originally built in the 13th century. This Gothic-style church features high circular windows, beautiful frescoes and a large hall that is divided into three naves. After making some changes in the structure, the church was transformed into a jail in the 19th century. This old church complex will soon be consecrated again after its much-needed renovation.

This distinctive pharmacy, located between the walls of the convent of San Giovanni, probably opened in 1201, although the current furnishings of the historic shop date from a later time. Three rooms hold shelves filled in the 16th-17th Centuries with small and large vases, flasks, jugs and tankards: the Sala del Fuoco (fire room) has a delivery desk with scales; the Sala dei Mortai (mortar room), frescoed with lunettes showing figures of Hippocrates, Galeno and Avicenna; and the Sala delle Sirene (sirens room), which holds a collection of documents.

The monastic complex of San Giovanni Evangelista is made up of a church, a monastery, and the historical San Giovanni pharmacy. The origins date back to the 10th Century, although the façade is Baroque in style. The bell-tower on the right-hand side was added in 1613. The church, with classical heritage, has an original Romanesque layout -you can see the pillars covered in gray stone with sculpted capitals by Antonio da Parma. Another piece of great value is the Wooden Choir by M. Zucchi, the Gianfranco brothers, and Pasquale Testa (1556). The monastic library is full of 15th Century rooms decorated with frescoes. It contains around 20,000 books, including codices painted in miniature from the 15th and 16th Centuries.

Cattedrale di Parma is dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. It is one of the most typical local Romanesque buildings of its time. Today the façade has a pointed roof with two slopes, and is decorated with three orders of loggia. There are three portals, and the main one was built by Giambono da Bissone in 1281, reusing earlier reliefs representing the months in the arch. These reliefs can be attributed to an earlier master who also carved the capitals in the central aisle. The Duomo is divided into three aisles and a transept with side chapels ending in apses, and divided by pillars with galleries reserved for women. The transept, which also has an apse, is crowned by a dome which was decorated by Correggio in the 16th Century. The internal decoration includes some sculptural pieces of notable interest in the capitals (in the nave), in the ladies' galleries, in the tomb slabs (which were discovered recently and are located in the fifth chapel on the right at the moment), and in the lions (located behind the façade). Parma's Duomo was created and built as a political-religious expression, and is typical of the religious buildings located along the Via Romea (which was represented by Via Emilia in this part of Padania). It was an obligatory stop for pilgrims and crusaders.