One of the most important museums in Emilia and one of the oldest in Italy is the National Archeological Museum of Parma (currently awaiting a new exhibition layout), in the Pilotta Complex, where you can admire not only the precious finds from the Roman city of Veleia, but also the wonders that emerged in the territory of Parma from the Paleolithic to the High Middle Ages.
There are Egyptian, Greek, Etruscan collections, the 12 statues of the Giulio-Claudia family and the famous Tabula Alimentaria coming from Veleia.
The Museum was founded in 1706 in conjunction with the exploration of Veleia and was the first in northern Italy linked to an archaeological enterprise.
It was Duchess Maria Luigia who enriched the museum with other ancient collections and placed it in the Palazzo della Pilotta.
From 23 December 2021 at the Palazzo della Pilotta it will be possible to access the Ala Nuova (New section), one of the most innovative museum sections in contemporary Italian museology. The Ala Nuova is the result of three parallel construction sites that, following restoration and redevelopment work, have led to the creation of a new Ceramics Room where the museum's Greek, Etruscan, Italic and Roman collections are displayed in a unique and spectacular way, placed individually or in small groups, in chronological order, in glass cases.
Continuing along the route, one finds oneself in the two Egyptian Rooms, where an immersive environment has been created that evokes the funeral chambers in which important finds from the Egyptian collection are brought together, in which one finds grave goods, splendid sarcophagi and the mummy from the Parma collection.
The redevelopment of the interior spaces of the New Wing also corresponds to the renovation and restoration of the exterior elevations of the façade, designed by the neoclassical architect Ennemond Alexandre Petitot, and the majestic garden in front of it created on the ruins of the ancient ducal knighthood.
