The Museo del Pomodoro is an ethnographic museum on tomatoes, created inside the Corte di Giarola that lies between Collecchio and Ozzano Taro, an area near Parma historically suited to the production and processing of tomatoes. The building was once a fortified farmstead belonging to the Bishop of Parma and between the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries was involved in struggles to control the ford of the river Taro and exploit its waters. It eventually lost all military importance and from the fifteenth century functioned only as a farm. Until the 1960s it was the location of a tomato processing and canning company. It became public property in 1998, was partially restored, and since 24th May 1999 has been the headquarters of the Taro Regional River Park. The museum was opened on 25th September 2010, with a conference dedicated to “The tomato in Parma: history, entrepreneurship and taste”. The exhibition is arranged in the ground floor wing where the stables used to be. It is arranged in seven sections that illustrate the following topics:
The museum of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, created inside the old dairy at the Corte Castellazzi in Soragna in the Province of Parma, is an ethnographic museum illustrating how this cheese is produced. The museum has been created inside a nineteenth-century farmstead belonging to the Meli-Lupi castle in Soragna. The castle, with a circular plan, was built in 1848 by Casimiro Meli-Lupi. Expanded in 1963 with the construction of two new rooms to use as milking and salting rooms, it remained active until 1977. The exhibition includes material collected from the Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese production area which includes five provinces: Parma, Reggio Emilia, Modena, Bologna to the west of the river Reno and Mantua to the south of the river Po. The objects originate between the second half of the nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth century. The exhibition project is based on the concept that the dairy is in itself already a museum, with places and equipment that illustrate the production of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. It is arranged in sections in three rooms formed from those originally used for the dairy’s production, Room A in the circular building, Room B in the underground salting room and Room C in the overhead milking room. In addition there is a space for refreshments and a museum-shop.
This is a genuine ethnographic museum on the theme of Parma Ham production, set up inside the renovated premises of the former cattle market in Langhirano, a building dating back to 1928. The exhibition space is arranged in eight themed sections. The layout recalls the wooden frames on which the cured meats are hung to mature, known locally as “scalere”. The first section focuses on the territory around Parma, local agriculture from antiquity to today, and the relationship between animal husbandry and agricultural production. The second section is dedicated to pig breeds reared for the production of cured meats including the indigenous black pig of Parma. The next section looks at the salt which is such an indispensable product in the process of manufacturing cured meats. The fourth section deals with the equipment and peculiarities of the work of the norcini – pork butchers. In the fifth room is displayed, on panels, the whole variety of deli meats from Parma: in addition to Parma Ham, Culatello di Zibello, Salami Felino and Spalla Cotta di San Secondo as well as various other products of local pork butchery. The sixth section is devoted to food and recipes. The seventh room, the largest in the museum, is responsible for explaining the overall procedure to produce ham. The eighth part is dedicated to the most relevant information on Parma Ham and the Consortium that protects it. Finally, there is a dedicated space for tasting and a point of sale offering typical products.
The ethnographic museum on the production of Felino Salami has been set up inside the cellars of the Castle of Felino, an old manor house dating back to the year 890, at Felino in the Province of Parma. The museum itinerary is split into five sections. It begins with a historical analysis of the relationship between the local territory and salami, including the history of the black pig. It continues in the second part dedicated to gastronomy with testimonies of the use of salami in Parma. The third room is the part on butchery and home production. The fourth section deals with the technology of production, from its origins to the latest developments, and the marketing of the product. The last part is dedicated to a video on the museum and a collection of historical curiosities, including the origin of the iconography of Sant’Antonio Abate, the patron saint of domestic animals, farmers and butchers. Finally, there is a museum shop.
At Spigarolo. In the chapel to the right, a small altar-piece of the Cremona type dated 1635, it preserves a modest Madonna with Child, and the Saints Roch and Blaise; the precious former high altar is carved in the manner of Giovanbattista Febbrari (first half of the 1700s). In the apse, a Madonna and Child, and the Saints Gregory, and Bartholomew by Francesco Pesenti known as Sabbioneta (1547), inspired by Boccaccio Boccaccino; it was repainted by Pietro Balestra (second half of the 1700s), who added the cherub. In the room to the right, a reused votive fresco with the Madonna and Child (late 1400s).
The foundations of the nave seem to date back to the first half of the 1400s; while the deep nave to the right was added towards the end of the 1600s. The elegantly crafted presbytery arch and the sanctuary appear to have been renewed towards the middle of the 1700s. In the chapel to the right of the presbytery, a carved wooden altarpiece (first half of the 1700s). The church also preserves some embroidered vestments from the 1700s.
The sober nave with its pilasters dates back to 1717; to the right of the entrance a coeval holy water stoup. Above the altar, an ornate canopy (late 1700s) with an older canvas applied to it depicting the Coronation of the Virgin. Of note are the very elegant Neoclassical seats of the choir and two side doors, signed “Franciscus Galli e Soranea fecit anno MDCCXCV, Vincentio Campanini Huius Ecclesiae Archip”; by the same hand the organ case and the chancel, also by wish of Campanini in 1791. There are also some embroidered vestments, provided by Campanini (before 1826).
Constructed in the 15th century, it was rebuilt in the 18th, but of the eighteenth century church only the bell-tower, the cusp and the nave remain. The high altar dates back to the 18th century. In the first chapel on the left is a precious marble baptismal font (1633).
In the presbytery, an Immaculate Conception that appeared to St Genesius, a fine Neoclassical canvas (1826 circa) in the style of Michele Plancher; and St Francis in prayer, a copy after Guido Reni. In the sacristy, an oval St Margaret of Cortona and a rectangular St Luigi Gonzaga are ascribed to Pietro Balestra: the former canvas definitely came from Sant’Ignazio in Busseto, the latter is to be identified with one of the three executed respectively for the Parishes of Roncole Verdi, Sant’Andrea, and Frescarolo.
A Samboseto. Il sobrio interno, ristrutturato con cappelle laterali verso il 1650, conserva nella prima a sinistra un pregevole fonte battesimale in marmo datato 1581; segue l’Immacolata di Clemente Ruta (circa quarto decennio del ‘700) e a destra i SS. Vigilio e Donnino di scuola parmense (verso la metà del ‘600). All’altar maggiore Madonna col Bimbo e i SS. Vigilio, Lucia, Teresa d’Avila attribuita a Girolamo Donnini (attorno al 1741-43); rimarchevole l’esotica cornice laccata (fine ‘700).