Palazzo Vescovile: Parma’s Romanesque Episcopal Palace
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.1
- Popularity
- Very Low
- Country
- Italy
- Primary era
- Medieval
- External website
- Open
- Eras represented
- Medieval, Early Modern
- Civilizations
- Duchy of Milan, Duchy of Parma and Piacenza, Holy Roman Empire
- Site type
- Religious
- Remains
- Palace
On this page9 sections
History
Palazzo Vescovile is a Romanesque episcopal palace in Parma, Italy, opposite the cathedral on Piazza Duomo. Built and expanded between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries, it has continued to serve as the seat of the Diocese of Parma, a territorial jurisdiction of the Christian Church administered by a bishop, and now also houses the Diocesan Museum.
Medieval origins and expansion
The earliest part of the palace consisted of the tower and part of the facade along Vicolo al Vescovado. It was probably built between 1045 and 1055 for Bishop Cadalo, who governed Parma from 1045 to 1072. Cadalo was elected antipope as Honorius II between 1061 and 1064, an antipope being a claimant to the papacy whose election or authority was contested by another pope or church faction. Some historians instead place this building phase in the late eleventh or early twelfth century, during the episcopate, or period in office, of Saint Bernardo degli Uberti, Bishop of Parma from 1106 to 1133.
In 1172, Bishop Bernardo II, who held office from 1169 to 1194, raised the building and extended it along the present Vicolo al Vescovado. The residence then had a strongly defensive character. Between 1232 and 1234, Bishop Grazia commissioned a major expansion. An unidentified architect designed the Romanesque facade facing Piazza Duomo, while the entire western side was raised.
Renaissance transformation
During the second half of the fifteenth century, Bishop Sagramoro Sagramori enclosed the portico facing the piazza to create additional rooms and decorated the courtyard with a chequerboard pattern. A few years later, Bishop Giovanni Antonio Sangiorgio raised the northern part of the facade to the height of the southern section, removed its crenellations, and added a Renaissance terracotta cornice. He also commissioned the two-storey loggia, an open-sided architectural gallery, on the south, west, and north sides of the courtyard.
Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, perpetual administrator of the Church of Parma from 1509 and later Pope Paul III, began the palace’s transformation into a Renaissance residence. The building subsequently hosted numerous prominent figures, the last of whom was Duke Ottavio Farnese.
Baroque remodelling and modern conservation
Between the mid-seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, Bishops Girolamo Corio, Carlo Nembrini, and Giuseppe Olgiati introduced interior decorations during their respective episcopates. During the long episcopate of Bishop Camillo Marazzani, from 1711 to 1760, the palace was extensively remodelled. Baroque facades were added, the interiors were radically altered, the main staircase was rebuilt, and the Renaissance courtyard loggia was enclosed.
In 1911, Bishop Guido Maria Conforti notified the Bologna Soprintendenza, the state monument-superintendence office responsible for historic buildings, that the palace was seriously unstable. Restoration of the principal facade and two bays of the south facade followed in 1925 and 1926. The ground-floor rooms of both elevations and the first-floor assembly hall were restored between 1935 and 1939. The courtyard was restored under the supervision of the Bologna Soprintendenza from 1957 to 1959, during the episcopate of Bishop Evasio Colli, bringing the Renaissance loggia back into view. Later work included conservation, structural consolidation, and extraordinary maintenance. The palace remains owned by the Diocese of Parma, protected as an Italian cultural property, and in continuous use for its original episcopal purpose.
Remains
The large palace occupies an entire urban block and is organized around a central courtyard. Its medieval Romanesque fabric is combined with Renaissance additions and later Baroque alterations. The principal and south facades have ground-floor porticos, covered galleries supported by pilasters, while the upper storeys are built in brick.
Principal and medieval facades
Piazza Duomo facades
The long principal facade and the south facade retain ground-floor porticos whose pilasters are made from large stone blocks. These galleries were enclosed during the Renaissance. Above them, the first upper storey is marked by Romanesque round-arched triple windows, each opening divided into three sections by slender paired columns of red Verona marble. The northern part of the principal facade contains numerous ceramic paterae, circular relief plaques set inside and above the tympana, the fields enclosed by the window arches.
The second upper storey has a further series of smaller triple windows, together with two double windows in the central section. The northern half of the facade was originally lower and was covered by a terrace. A high Renaissance cornice in terracotta crowns the facades and continues along the northern section, while the north side also preserves an elegant medieval cornice slightly below it.
Vicolo al Vescovado section
The oldest section along Vicolo al Vescovado is built entirely in brick. Its principal features are the tower at the north-west corner, a broad arched portal framed with stone blocks from the Roman period, and traces of double windows. One wing along this side of the palace is occupied by the Diocesan Museum.
Central courtyard
At ground level, the courtyard is surrounded by a Renaissance portico with sandstone columns. Above it, a Renaissance loggia rises on the three sides opposite the entrance. The courtyard colonnade displays two coats of arms belonging to Bishop Giovanni Antonio Sangiorgio, while his initials appear on numerous architraves, the horizontal architectural members framing or spanning openings.
The east side preserves traces of two medieval triple windows. One retains tempera decoration, a small column of red Verona marble, and a stone capital. Together with the restored loggia, these elements preserve the relationship between the palace’s medieval fabric and its Renaissance courtyard arrangement.
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