Piazza Garibaldi and the Roman forum

Piazza Garibaldi, January 2012

This busy piazza has been the heart of Parma ever since the Romans founded the city in 183 B.C.

Here was the Roman forum (which means “place outdoors” in Latin) located at the intersection of the main north-south street (the cardo) with the main east-west oriented street (the decumanus). Roman surveyors laid out the grid of a new city starting from the forum thanks to the groma – a special instrument used to draw straight lines and right angles.

Planning the city: the groma

The piazza is much larger than the original forum, but it retains its essential features: it is still a hub of economic life (it used to the marketplace until the 19^th century) and a popular gathering place for rendezvous, meetings, political debates, demonstrations, concerts and public celebrations.

Strada Mazzini

Strada Repubblica

Strada Mazzini on the west side and strada Repubblica on the east side of the piazza are the urban stretch of the Roman via Aemilia, the road running from Piacenza on the river Po to Rimini on the Adriatic sea.

Along the Via Aemilia

(Drawings by courtesy of Mrs. Antonella Rivara, Art teacher at Scuola Media Pelacani, Noceto, Parma)

Contact me for a guided tour of the city.