Rugby Tours To Parma

Parma

Parma Ham

Rugby Tours to Parma. Parma was already a built-up area in the Bronze Age. In the current position of the city rose a Terramare.

The Terramare were ancient villages built of wood on piles according to a defined scheme and squared form. They were constructed on dry land and generally in proximity to the rivers.

During this age between 1500 BC and 800 BC the first necropolis on the sites of the present-day Piazza Duomo and Piazzale della Macina were constructed.

The city was most probably founded and named by the Etruscans. This Roman colony was founded in 183 BC, together with Mutina (Modena) where 2,000 families were settled.

Zebre Rugby are from Parma and also play in the Guinness Pro14.

Coached by former Connacht man Michael Bradley, also provide many players to the international team coached by Franco Smith.

Tour Information

TOUR HIGHLIGHTS

Our Popular Inclusions for a Rugby Tour to Parma

Attend a Rugby Training session with coaches and players from Zebre Rugby.
Watch a Guinness Pro14 fixture.
Visit the National Archaeological Museum of Parma filled with ancient artefacts.
Pop along to the Bodoni Museum named after Giambattista Bodoni an 18^th century interior designer.
Savour Parma Ham and enjoy a cooked roast pig on a spit.
Tour of Parma Cathedral Romanesque art filled Cathedral.
Enjoy a Pizza Making Class and enjoy the rewards afterwards.
Dinner with Toto Perugini & Fabio Ongaro – Italy’s Most Capped Front Row.
Walk along to the Palazzo della Pilotta a 16^th century palace now a national museum.
An away day to the village of Torrechiara and the fabulous constructed castle from the 1400s.

Rugby Training with Zebre Rugby

Attend an intensive training session with coaches and players from Zebre Rugby to help you improve your game and skills.

The sessions here in Parma are very good and a lot of teams comment on how good they are.

Of course, it’s all down to the coach giving the session and the Zebre staff that do them are very good indeed.

Teams take on a lot what is taught to them and this is shown in their results when they get home, such as winning their State Championships.

It’s all down to our training sessions and the coaches we provide.

Parma Cathedral

The Cathedral of Parma is a place of art, history and sacredness.

Here are preserved the bas-reliefs by Benedetto Antelami and the grand frescoes by Antonio Allegri, known as Correggio. Begun in 1059 by bishop Cadalo, later antipope with the name of Honorius II, and was consecrated by Paschal II in 1106.

A basilica existed probably in the 6th century but was later abandoned. Another church had been consecrated in the rear part of the preceding one in the 9th century by the Count-Bishop Guibodo.

The new church was heavily damaged by an earthquake in 1117 and had to be restored. Of the original building, remains can be seen in the presbytery, the transept, the choir and the apses.

The wide façade was completed in 1178 it has three loggia floors and three portals, whose doors were sculpted by Luchino Bianchino in 1494.

Between the central and the right doors is the tomb of the mathematician Biagio Pelacani, who died in 1416. The Gothic belfry was added later, in 1284-1294 a twin construction on the left side had been conceived, but it was never begun.

Beside the Cathedral lies the octagonal Baptistery of Parma.

Palazzo della Pilotta

Palazzo della Pilotta is a complex of edifices located between Piazzale della Pace and the Lungoparma in the historical centre of Parma. Its name derives from the game of pelota played at one time by Spanish soldiers stationed in Parma.

Built around 1583, during the last years of reign of Duke Ottavio Farnese and the annexed Dominican church of St. Peter was demolished only in recent times.
The existing complex includes three courts consisting of the Cortile de san Pietro Martire, Cortile del Guazzatoio and the Cortile della Rachetta.

The Pilotta was to house a large hall, later turned into the Teatro Farnese, the stables and the grooms’ residences, the Academy Hall and other rooms.

After the end of the Farnese family rule of Parma, much of the movable assets of the palace were removed by then Duke Charles I, later King of Spain, and taken to Naples in the 1730s.

The Biblioteca Palatina was established here by 1769. Elizabeth Farnese, Queen of Spain, was born here in 1692.

By 2015, the building spaces had been taken up by a number of cultural institutions and museums.

Castle of Torrechiara

If you are looking for a day trip from Parma, the quiet country village of Torrechiara offers a different experience.

This charming village can be reached via car in approximately 35 minutes and is located to the south of Parma – during the journey you will travel through the beautiful Italian countryside.

The main attraction of this village is the amazing Castello di Torrechiara that was constructed in the 1400’s.

This immense structure dwarfs the village and stands proudly on a small hill providing it with panoramic views of the surrounding region.

Whilst the architecture of the castle remains in a brilliant condition, the interior is well preserved too and features several finely decorated rooms including the famous Camera d’Oro (Golden Chamber).

Pizza Making

Learn how to make your own pizza from the experts and then reap the reap the rewards afterwards by consuming it, can’t be bad.

The history of pizza begins in antiquity, when various ancient cultures produced basic flatbreads with toppings.

The precursor of pizza was probably the focaccia, a flat bread known to the Romans as panis focacius, to which toppings were then added.

Modern pizza developed in Naples, when tomato was added to the focaccia in the late 18th century.

The word pizza was first documented in AD 997 in Gaeta and successively in different parts of Central and Southern Italy.

Pizza was mainly eaten in the country of Italy and by emigrants from there.

This changed after World War II, when Allied troops stationed in Italy came to enjoy pizza along with other Italian foods.

Parma