Things to do in Parma, Emilia-Romagna: The Best History Museums

Marie Louise of Austria, Empress of France as second wife of Napoleon, after his fall was destined to Parma, small but strategic Duchy. There she became an attentive and caring sovereign, still beloved nowadays. Her magnificent collections and memorabilia both from the Empire and the Ducal period passed to her daughter's family, from which Glauco Lombardi bought them aiming to found a Museum which finally opened in 1961. It is thus possible to discover her inner sensibility along with the events that transformed Europe in the XIX century, experiencing the art and life of that era.

The Archaeological Museum tells the story of the origins of Parma and reveals artifacts of rare beauty and great historical importance. Founded in 1760 to house the findings from the excavations in the Roman city of Veleia,near Piacenza, it was enriched by the Duchess Maria Luigia (1815 to 1847) with important epigraphic and numismatic collections and Greek, Etruscan, Italic and Egyptians artifacts. Since 1867 the Museum houses one of the first prehistoric exhibitions in Italy. Today the museum consists of two distinct parts: the collections section and the archaeological rooms, containing the findings from the Parma area. In the first section, the Egyptian objects have a special importance, together with the findings from Veleia, including 12 marble statues of the Julio-Claudian family and the Tabula Alimentaria, the largest inscribed bronze tablet of Antiquity. The second section is dedicated to the prehistoric and classical artifacts found during archaeological excavations carried out in the territory of Parma. The Neolithic tombs and the findings from the "terramare", settlements of the second millennium BC, are particularly important. The rooms dedicated to Iron Age, Romans and Langobards are currently under reorganization.