The Palazzo della Pilotta is a complex of edifices in the historical centre of Parma

Parma

Parma is a city in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna famous for its ham, its cheese, its architecture and the fine countryside around it. This is the home of the University of Parma, one of the oldest universities in the world....

, in northern Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

. Its name derives from the game of pelota

Pelota

Pelota can refer to the popular and shortened names for a number of ball games:* Baseball* Basque pelota* Bocce* Jai alai* Valencian pilota...

.

History

Built around 1583, during the last years of reign of Duke Ottavio Farnese, it developed around the corridor (Corridore) which connected the keep (Rocchetta, traces of which can be seen next the river Parma) to the Ducal Palace: the latter, begun in 1622 under Duke Ranuccio I, was never completed. the façade on the Piazza della Ghiaia is missing and the annexed Dominican

Dominican Order

The Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic and approved by Pope Honorius III on 22 December 1216 in France...

 church of St. Peter was demolished only in recent times.

The existing complex includes three courts: the Cortile di San Pietro Martire (now best known as Cortile della Pilotta), Cortile del Guazzatoio (originally della pelota) and the Cortile della Racchetta. The Pilotta was to house a large hall, later turned into the Teatro Farnese

Teatro Farnese

Teatro Farnese is a Baroque-style theatre in Parma, Italy. It was built in 1618 by Giovanni Battista Aleotti. The theatre was almost destroyed by an Allied air raid during World War II...

, the stables and the grooms' residences, the Academy Hall and other rooms.

After the end of the Farnese family the edifice was sacked starting with Duke Charles I

Charles III of Spain

Charles III was the King of Spain and the Spanish Indies from 1759 to 1788. He was the eldest son of Philip V of Spain and his second wife, the Princess Elisabeth Farnese...

, who moved all the Farnese assets to Naples

Naples

Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...

.

Present

Presently the edifice includes:

• National Archaeological Museum
• Scuola d'arte Toschi
  Paolo Toschi
  Paolo Toschi was an Italian draughtsman and engraver. He was born in Parma.He trained in Paris under Charles Clément Balvay , and first made a reputation by a fine etching of Henry IV, after Gérard...
  
  
• Palatine Library
• Museo Bodoniano (en:Bodoni Museum)
• Teatro Farnese
  Teatro Farnese
  Teatro Farnese is a Baroque-style theatre in Parma, Italy. It was built in 1618 by Giovanni Battista Aleotti. The theatre was almost destroyed by an Allied air raid during World War II...
  
  
• Galleria Nazionale di Parma
  Galleria nazionale di Parma
  The Galleria nazionale di Parma is an art gallery in Parma, northern Italy.Painters exhibited include Beato Angelico, Canaletto, Correggio, Sebastiano del Piombo, Guercino, Leonardo da Vinci, Parmigianino, Tintoretto and others.-History:...