The Palazzo della Pilotta, also simply called la Pilotta, is a vast set of buildings located in the historic center of Parma, located between piazzale della Pace and the Lungoparma.
The name derives from the game of Basque pelota, played by Spanish soldiers in the courtyard of the Guazzatoio, originally called the pelota.
It currently houses the National Archaeological Museum, the National Gallery, the Palatine Library and the Bodonian Museum.
In 2016, the complex attracted 89,478 visitors.
The palace contains the Farnese Theater, in Parma, it was the court theater of the Dukes of Parma and Piacenza.
Today it is inserted within the path of the National Gallery and has recently become the seat of some concert and opera performances of the Teatro Regio di Parma.
It was built starting in 1618 by Ranuccio I, Duke of Parma and Piacenza, who intended to celebrate with a theatrical performance the stop in Parma of the Grand Duke of Tuscany, Cosimo II, on his way to Milan to honor the tomb of San Carlo Borromeo, canonized in 1610.
The construction of the work was entrusted to the architect Giovan Battista Aleotti, known as the Argenta (1546-1636): it was built on the first floor of the Palazzo della Pilotta in Parma, in a large room designed as the Antiquarium Hall but always used as a dining room. 'weapons and as a venue for tournaments.
The theater was completed in the autumn of 1618 and dedicated to Bellona (goddess of war, in homage to the first destination of the environment) and to the Muses: due to an illness that had struck Cosimo II, forcing him to cancel the planned pilgrimage, the theater remained unused for nearly ten years. It was finally inaugurated on 21 December 1628, on the occasion of the wedding of Odoardo, son of Ranuccio, with Margherita de 'Medici, daughter of Cosimo.
To celebrate the event, the show Mercurio e Marte was set up, with lyrics by Claudio Achillini, music by Claudio Monteverdi and scenography by Francesco Guitti: during the opera the cavea was also flooded and a naumachia staged.
Due to the complexity and high costs of the preparations, the theater was used only eight more times: the last in 1732, on the occasion of the arrival of Don Carlo di Borbone in the duchy.
Pilotta Palace - Farnese Theater
Address: Piazza della Pilotta, 3, 43121
Phone: 0521 233617
Site:
http://pilotta.beniculturali.it/Location inserted by
CHO.earth