The Farnese dukes of Parma

Who were the Farnese dukes of Parma?

Eight dukes from 1545 to 1731, starting with Pier Luigi, the son of Pope Paul III, and ending with Antonio, who died without direct heirs.

Reign dates follow English Wikipedia's House of Farnese.

How did the Farnese become dukes of Parma?

Through the papacy: Pope Paul III made his son Pier Luigi Duke of Parma and Piacenza in 1545, from lands that had belonged to the Papal States. Pier Luigi was murdered in Piacenza on 10 September 1547.

English Wikipedia records that he took possession in 1546 and agreed to pay the Holy See 9,000 gold ducats a year. The plot against him was organised by Ferrante Gonzaga, the governor of Milan; the conspirators stabbed him and hung his body from a window of his palace. His son Ottavio held on to the duchy by marrying Margaret of Parma, the daughter of Emperor Charles V, and later moved his court from Piacenza to Parma.

What did Ottavio and Alessandro build?

Ottavio began the Pilotta around 1580, and from 1561 the Palazzo del Giardino and the Ducal Park across the river, designed by Jacopo Barozzi da Vignola. Alessandro, a military commander, was Governor of the Spanish Netherlands.

The Pilotta grew around the Corridore, a long straight wing on pillars, and linked the old Rocchetta Viscontea, whose traces still show along the river, to the ducal palace. Its name comes from pelota, a ball game Spanish soldiers played in one of its courtyards. The Palazzo del Giardino now houses the provincial command of the Carabinieri; the Ducal Park, public since Italian unification, covers about 21 hectares.

What did Ranuccio I do for Parma?

He built the Teatro Farnese in 1618, pushed on with the Pilotta from 1602 and revived the University of Parma; he also executed a group of nobles accused of conspiracy in 1612.

English Wikipedia describes him as a believer in absolute rule, who centralised the state in 1594 and cut back the privileges of the nobles. The 'Great Justice' of 1612 sent several of them to the scaffold, and the affair damaged his standing among Italy's ruling families. His great work in Parma is the one you can still see: the Teatro Farnese, built by Giovan Battista Aleotti in a former armoury of the Pilotta.

What was the Farnese wedding of 1628?

The marriage of Duke Odoardo Farnese to Margherita de' Medici, celebrated on 21 December 1628 by opening the Teatro Farnese with 'Mercurio e Marte', music by Monteverdi and a flooded floor for a sea battle.

Odoardo had become duke as a boy in 1622, under the regency of his uncle. A Medici bride was a prize for a young dynasty, and the ten-year-old theatre finally had an occasion grand enough. The full story is in our history of the Teatro Farnese.

Your own guide for the Pilotta and a full hour in the Teatro Farnese, one price for up to 15. Museum tickets are extra.

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Who was Elisabetta Farnese?

The niece of the last duke, Antonio, and Queen of Spain as the wife of Philip V (1692 to 1766). When the Farnese line died out in 1731, Parma passed to her son Don Carlos of Bourbon.

The Teatro Farnese's last performance, in 1732, was for Don Carlos. He later became King of Naples and decided to move the family's collections there; his son Ferdinand IV finished the move in 1787. That is why much of the Farnese collection is now in Naples: the sculptures at the National Archaeological Museum and most of the paintings at Capodimonte.

Where can you see Farnese Parma today?

In the Pilotta with its theatre and gallery, the Ducal Park across the river, and the Basilica of Santa Maria della Steccata, where a crypt holds the tombs of the Farnese and Bourbon dukes.

Maria Luigia had the crypt made in 1823 for the tombs of the Farnese and Bourbon-Parma families, and the Farnese remains had been moved there in 1813. We could not confirm when the crypt is open, so ask at the church. The Steccata itself, built from 1521 to 1539, has Parmigianino's frescoes of the wise and foolish virgins.

Is there a tour of Farnese Parma?

Not one sold under that name, but the private art day covers the Pilotta, the Teatro Farnese and the Steccata, with entrance tickets included, for $278 per person.

The private art day starts at 9:00 at the Pilotta and runs about 5 hours: the Camera di San Paolo, the Baptistery, the Cathedral, the Steccata, about an hour in the Galleria Nazionale and 30 minutes in the Teatro Farnese. It is rated 5.0 from 8 reviews. For the palace and theatre only, the private Pilotta and theatre tour costs $174 per group, with museum tickets extra.

The Pilotta, the Teatro Farnese, the Steccata and Correggio's Parma with a private guide, every ticket included.

★ 5.0 8 reviews · 5 hours · from $278

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