Cittadella di Parma

The Citadel of Parma (Italian: Cittadella di Parma) is a pentagonal fortress built in the Emilian city in the last years of the 16th century.

The structure was erected at the behest of the Duke of Parma and Piacenza Alessandro Farnese and entrusted to the engineers Giovanni Antonio Stirpio de' Brunelli and Genesio Bresciani with the collaboration of Smeraldo Smeraldi. To build it, the Maggiore canal was diverted, whose course was joined with that of the Comune canal up to the Porta Nuova (today's Barriera Farini).

Created for defensive purposes, and for this reason equipped with ramparts and moats, it was later used as barracks, as a prison for political crimes and as a place for executions. Between the late 20th and early 21st centuries, the fortress, which retains its original pentagonal shape, was renovated and used as a public park, with spaces dedicated to sports and children's activities.

Text adapted from “Citadel of Parma” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Cittadella di Parma ranks #3,004 of 3,691 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #248 of the 288 mapped in Italy. Founded 1550, it is older than 43% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 307 atlas entries founded in the 16th century. See how Italy compares in the castle statistics.

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Read the full history on Wikipedia ↗