Correggio and Parmigianino walk

Start with the domes in the morning, before San Giovanni closes at noon. End in the Galleria, which is open until 7 p.m. and has no lunch break. Our article on the two painters gives the background; read it the night before.

Correggio signed the contract for the cathedral dome on November 3, 1522 and finished it in 1530. It shows the Virgin rising through a vortex of figures, and it is the reason most art lovers come to Parma. The cathedral is free and open daily from 7:45 a.m. to 7:20 p.m., without a lunch break, though visits pause during services. Photos are allowed without flash or tripod.

Stand under the crossing and give your eyes time: the dome is high and the figures only resolve after a minute. Binoculars help. For what else is in the building, including Antelami's 1178 Deposition, see our Duomo page.

Behind the cathedral apse, 149 m away, the Benedictine abbey church has Correggio's other dome, and frescoes by Parmigianino and Michelangelo Anselmi. Seeing both of Correggio's domes within five minutes of each other is the point of this walk. The church is free and opens 8:30 a.m. to noon and 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. It is a working monastery, with Mass every evening at 7 p.m.

Next door, the old monastery pharmacy, the Antica Spezieria, is a separate €5 visit run by the state museums, Tuesday to Sunday.

The Camera di San Paolo is the small room Correggio frescoed for the abbess Giovanna da Piacenza, and in normal times it is the most delightful stop on this walk. The city closed it on August 31, 2026 for a €700,000 conservation project; the city says work should end around spring 2027, without a firm date. The ticket office at Strada Macedonio Melloni 3 stays open to sell tickets for other civic museums. Walk past the entrance and keep going.

When it reopens, the single ticket is €8, or it is included in the €15 six-museum civic pass.

At Santa Maria della Steccata, Parmigianino signed a contract in 1531 to fresco the great arch above the high altar. He worked slowly, was jailed for two months over the delays, and died at Casalmaggiore on August 24, 1540. The arch is his most important work in Parma. Entry is free. The church has no official website; a 2024 directory gives 7:30 a.m. to noon and 3 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

If you want more Parmigianino, the most complete room by him is outside the city: his Diana and Actaeon room in the Rocca Sanvitale at Fontanellato, 40 minutes by bus.

The Galleria Nazionale is part of the Pilotta, on the €18 five-museum ticket (€10 from 5 p.m., €2 ages 18 to 24, free under 18 and on the first Sunday of the month). It opens Tuesday to Sunday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., last entry 6 p.m. For this walk, look for:

• Correggio, Madonna di San Girolamo, acquired in 1765.
• Parmigianino, Schiava turca (the Turkish Slave), back in Parma from the Uffizi since 1928.
• Leonardo, La Scapigliata, not by either painter but in the same rooms, and on view despite the lighting works that ran to September 30, 2026.

Correggio's Lamentation (about 1524) is in Dresden for the exhibition Correggio. Movingly human until January 10, 2027. From October 17, 2026 to January 17, 2027 the Pilotta also shows Giorgio Gandini del Grano, a painter who followed in Correggio's footsteps; it had not published whether that costs extra. On the way in you pass the Teatro Farnese.

Between San Giovanni and the Steccata, Caffè Cavour at Strada Cavour 30/B is on your line; its December 2023 menu lists espresso at €1.30 standing. For lunch before the Galleria, Trattoria dei Corrieri on Strada del Conservatorio serves all day from noon. If you want the classic Parma pasta, order anolini in brodo.