Ducal Palace of Parma

142: 1350: 1314: 1302: 1290: 1338: 515:'s second wife, the old ducal palace still presented a rather labyrinthine and heterogeneous appearance, as depicted in a painting by Giuseppe Alinovi from around 1830. The large space left by the demolitions of the 18th century was now occupied by a square, called Piazza di Corte, which roughly corresponds to the current Piazza della Pace. On the right (west) stood the facade of the Ducal Palace that had survived the demolitions of 1767, with a temporary neo-Renaissance facade made by Petitot. In the background (south) appeared the rooftops of the Teatro Regio and the basilica of Santa Maria della Steccatta. Just in front of the aforementioned structures, there was a low building, almost an elevated passageway, which housed the guardhouse and connected the Ducal Palace with the 621: 1326: 320:(1553-1610) was responsible for the project, although with the significant contribution of duke Ranuccio I himself. The Palazzo della Pilotta was essentially intended to be a "services palace", that is, it would contain various services linked to the ducal court. This would simultaneously relieve and dignify the old ducal palace located a little further east. The complex included a large large banquet hall, a monumental staircase, stables, coach houses, wardrobes, and numerous accommodations for the household staff, all connected through various galleries and courtyards. This set-up was again inspired by El Escorial. Similarly, the imperial staircase of the Spanish building also served as inspiration for the one in the Parmesan palace. 629: 432: 52: 416: 1362: 71: 538: 488: 424: 287: 496: 589: 471:

especially in the central body, clearly influenced by the Palazzo Chiericati built by Palladio in Vicenza. The lateral wings, on the other hand, served to regularize the square and conceal the heterogeneous buildings behind them. On the other hand, the grand square, inspired by the French royal squares, would extend to the present-day Strada Cavour, surpassing in size the other two squares of the city, the Piazza Grande and the Piazza del Duomo, symbolizing the preeminence of the sovereign over municipal and religious power, respectively.

271: 637: 645: 562: 128:, the residential core suffered severe damage during air raids in 1944, and it was not reconstructed afterwards. In its place, a large empty and landscaped space known as Piazza della Pace was established, which serves as public space and also as a reminder of the turbulent events that occurred during the war. Although the loss of the residential core of the Ducal Palace was a tragedy for the city's historical heritage, the presence of the Piazza della Pace symbolizes the post-war rebirth and reconstruction. 657: 408: 279: 263: 150: 550: 341: 298: 192:, the ducal palace in Parma was modest. Background was the empty ducal treasury, due to economic conditions and the manu wars that ravaged northern Italy in the second half of the 16th century. The palace was only a set of neighbouring houses, along the current Strada Garibaldi, which were acquired for temporarily use by the ducal court. In addition, across the Parma river, Ottavio transformed an ancient 356:(1570-1655) as the new court architect. His first objective was to complete the Pilotta with a grand Baroque facade to the east, topped by a very tall central tower. However, nothing was ultimately achieved, leaving the Palazzo della Pilotta as a large unfinished building, the result of contradictory projects, which was never inhabited by the ducal family and was destined for ancillary services. 574: 611:

to reconstruct the facade in neoclassical style. The works were carried out between 1833 and 1834. The neoclassical style and the Ionic columns match the facade of the opposing Palazzo di Riserva, which was connected to the Ducal palace by a corridor. The renovation works also involved the interior

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The palace was severely hit and damaged by Allied air raids on 13 May 1944. Immediately after the Second World War, it was demolished leaving a hole in the middle of the city centre. There has been a proposal to reconstruct the palace in its original form. However, the regional superintendency for

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The second campaign started in 1617, with the transformation of the large hall of the west wing into the Farnese Theater, which forced the relocation of various services, such as the stables, which was rebuilt further north. The third campaign began in 1620, with the works on the southwest facade

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In 1801, Napoleon incorporated the Duchy of Parma into France. Nothing much happened to the ducal palace, except for the demolition of the Dominican church and convent of San Pietro Martire in 1813, which had been one of the main obstacles to the realization of many architectural projects in the

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However, Petitot's plan first required the demolition of numerous buildings between the Palazzo della Pilotta and the current Garibaldi road, including half of the old ducal palace and the new 1750s facade. These massive demolitions happened in 1766. However, financial difficulties prevented the

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The first campaign of works was carried out between 1602 and 1611 and included the southern courtyard of the complex, now the Pilotta courtyard, built around duke Octavio's corridor. Only the eastern area, adjacent to the ducal palace and the church of San Pietro Martire, remained unfinished.

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to design a new palace. Petitot created a grandiose plan, a new ducal residence (or "Royal Palace" as referenced in the documents) with a grand cour d'honneur and frontal square. Facing the rococo decoration developed by Petitot inside the palace, the east facade showed a classical severity,

240:. Construction of the corridor started in 1581, but were halted in 1586, when Ottavio passed away. Fragments have been preserved in the south side of Pilotta courtyard. Over the next fifty years, additional buildings and courtyards were added to the corridor. This complex is now known as the 688:

antiquities rejected the project in 1963. Various other attempts to rebuild the palace also did not have any effect. The empty space at the Piazzale della Pace was occupied by parking lots for year. But in 1998, the architect Mario Botta created a large lawn on the location of the palace.

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Throughout its history, the palace was not a single building but a collection of privately acquired properties gradually embellished by the dukes, which never formed a homogeneous ensemble. Instead, they represented a grouping of diverse and unfinished projects.

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Transformations in the Pilotta and the ducal palace, still a heterogeneous mix of several buildings, focused mainly on the interior, adapting the spaces for ceremonial and daily life and to display the magnificent art collection and library of the Farnese.

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The last dukes of the Farnese house also failed to remove the Dominican monks from the monastery of San Pietro Martire, which was supposed to be demolished for the continuation of the works. Also, they shifted their building activities to ducal palace of

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In 1580, Ottavio decided to connect his Parmesan palaces by building a large corridor that connected the ducal palace with the 'Rocchetta Viscontea', a keep of which traces can be seen next to the Parma river. He probably involved the architect,

309:(1569–1622) decided to reconstruct the set of houses in a new ducal palace. Connected with the Palazzo della Pilotta, this became a large residential complex. It became subject to various renovations. It was inspired by the palace-monastery of 451:(1720-1765), another son of Elisabeth Farnese, became the new duke. He primarily focused on embellishing the ducal palace of Colorno, but in 1750, duke Philip commissioned a new northern facade for the ducal palace. This 141: 1337: 1289: 519:, located on the left (east). The latter, currently the Glauco Lombardi Museum, had been built in 1764 by Petitot to accommodate the duke's illustrious guests, as well as a court theater. 121:, which was part of the complex. This compound housed a series of buildings and structures used for various purposes, including a library, theater, art gallery, and other cultural spaces. 1223: