A summa of the history of the petite capitale of the Po Valley, from its foundation in the Cisalpine Gaul marshlands to the creation of the Farnese duchy, from the Bourbon reforms to Duchess Marie-Louise, all the way down to the present day.
A reflection on the journey embarked on by the city of Parma – and its environs – completed via five thousand entries aiming to retrace Parmesan life from its origins to the present day. This encyclopedia restores knowledge but, more importantly, awareness of the peculiar fabric of names and situations that make up the city’s identity. It is also an astonishing narrative work, both fast-paced and lively, within which characters, landscapes and events shift from fact to fiction and back in a skilful succession of lights and shadows, of hidden episodes and adventures. Thus, from Abba Giuseppe Cesare to Zunti Lodovico, a long path scattered with stops and stations along the way, with the city’s history, economy, culture, gastronomy, art and folklore; with its dukes and mayors, bishops and ministers, artists, craftsmen, merchants, musicians, directors, swordsmen and cinema workers, entrepreneurs, writers, journalists, clerks, gentlemen of leisure both past and present. To say nothing of the vast, detailed iconography completing the volume.