Busseto

An important agricultural centre of the plains around Parma, Busseto is located in the north-western tip of the province of Parma about 8 km South of the river Po.

The flat land north of the via Emilia offers different points of interest and different reasons for a visit. The importance of this territory, however, lies in the figure of Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901), who was born in a nearby village called Roncole and who lived in Busseto for a great part of his life. The Maestro still fascinates music lovers and people who are interested in the life of this composer, profoundly linked to our Risorgimento age.

Thanks to the environmental characteristics of the Padana flat land along the Po River, an important role in this territory’s life is played by the prolific production of delicious cold cuts, among which we find salami, coppe, fiocchetti and the king: culatello.

The area around Busseto can be visited in every period of the year. Here Verdi is still alive and testimonies of his life are visited frequently on a Verdi tour that starts at the house of the Maestro in Roncole, arriving then at the Sant’Agata mansion in Villanova sull’Arda.

Busseto is the right place to discover the most significant sights linked to the life of this composer, starting from Piazza Verdi, where a bronze monument dedicated to the Maestro dominates the square. Here, besides the 13th century Rocca that housed the Pallavicino family, now the Municipality building, there are also the Verdi theatre, dating back to between 1856 and 1868, and Casa Barezzi, where the composer lived with his wife Margherita Barezzi. The house holds many relics, evidence of the education and future career of Verdi, autographed letters, iconographic documents, and original portraits of the Maestro and of his performers during the last century.

Just outside the city wall, another important stop along this itinerary is at Villa Pallavicino. This beautiful Renaissance building is now home to the National Museum Giuseppe Verdi and celebrates this genius composer. Its large rooms house twenty seven works with reproductions of the original furnishings of Casa Ricordi and many paintings from that era, fabrics from the 1800s, and eternal music in a setting with theatrical lighting which accompanies visitors along their journey in this intensely romantic atmosphere.

If the spirit of this Maestro still haunts places in Busseto, it most surely visits noteworthy places such as the Collegiata of San Bartolomeo of the 15th century, built between 1437 and 1450 upon the request by Orlando Pallavicino il Magnifico, the Church of Santa Maria degli Angeli with the famous sculpture of the Compianto, and of course Villa Pallavicino, which was the summer residence of the Lords of Busseto.