Parma: Capital of Art and Gastronomy

Parma is a coffer of art masterworks but also a temple of Italian cuisine, a true artistic and culinary capital.

Guided tour to a dairy in order to discover Parmigiano Reggiano.

Our itinerary starts with a guided tour of a dairy to know all the production phases of the king of cheese: Parmigiano Reggiano.
We will start from the production room, where the numerous copper boilers, under the careful control of the cheese maker, work slowly in order to curdle the milk and to transform it in cheese. Then we will continue the visit in the salting room, where, in proper tanks, each cheese is put in a salt and water solution. Then the maturing room, where hundreds of whole cheese rest and dry, ready to be verified by the expert, who impress on each the famous brand. After the visit we will appreciate the flavour nuances in a tasting. 

Guided tour of Parma city centre

The afternoon is dedicated to the guided tour of Parma old town, always with a qualified tour guide.
The visit starts in Garibaldi Square, at the crossroads of the old Roman roads (cardo and decumano), here there is the thirteenth century Town Hall and the thirteenth century Governor’s Palace, but as the majority of the town, this was modified during the eighteenth century by the French architect Alexandre Petitot. Our walk continues towards the Cathedral Square, where there is the precious octagonal Baptistery, considered one of the best architecture of the medieval art in Italy. Then we will visit the Cathedral, a mix of Romanesque and Renaissance, where we will see two masterpieces: the “ Deposition” made by Antelami, and the cupola frescoed by Antonio Allegri, known as Correggio. 

Then we continue towards the Pilotta Palace, the most important museum pole in the town, in order to visit Farnese Theatre, a wooden building, realised thanks to the will of the duke Ranuccio Farnese at the beginning of seventeenth century based on the project of Gian Battista Aleotti. Farnese is not the only theatre of the town, our visit will end not so far, in front of the Regio Theatre, temple of the Italian opera tradition.