Parma, Baptistry

Parma, on the ancient Via Emilia and on the Parma River, was founded by the Romans in 183 BC. There is a group of buildings called the Centro Episcopale, Parma’s Episcopal Center, which includes the Duomo (Cathedral), the Baptistry, San Giovanni (St. John’s Church), and the surrounding palaces.

The Romanesque-Gothic Baptistry, built in the early 1200s, is several stories high and completely open from ground floor to roof. Magnificent! Built with Veronese rose-colored marble, the interior is a polygon of sixteen sides, with sixteen niches and graceful galleries liberally embellished with frescoes. This Baptistry is one of the most remarkable in Italy, we found it more interesting than some that are more famous.

In Parma (birthplace of the great Toscanini and the city of Giuseppe Verdi), a couple dozen benches faced a temporary stage (in the foreground) in preparation for musical concerts and other artistic presentations.

We walked around the town and when we stopped for an ice cream cone the storekeeper joked with us (sign language, pointing, and laughter) about the exchange rate of lire for a dollar. He indicated that since the number of lire we received for each dollar had just increased, he should be able to charge us more for an ice cream cone, than he charged his Italian customers.