Falling in love visiting Parma by bike with its little streets and hidden corners: a slow itinerary to discover the ducal city, with a special attention to our surroundings. This daily itinerary in particular leads to the exploration of the murales in the historical centre of Parma.
The itinerary departs from the train station where it is possible to rent a bike.
The first stop is in front of the Parma train station, where we find two beautiful murales. The first was created on the occasion of the Parma Street View Festival of street art and urban art when in 2016 a homage to Maestro Giuseppe Verdi was created by the well-known artists Nabla & Zibe.
The second, in Viale Borsellino, is the work of the artist from Parma Alessandro Canu: in the summer of 2020 he made a work to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Bologna massacre of August 2, 1980, with a touching mural dedicated to the victims.
At the train station bike rental is available.
From here, we go towards the Ponte delle Nazioni and the underpass of Via Reggio, where the graffiti of Segni Urbani & Meeting of Styles, which took place in Parma from October 13 to 15, 2023, can be found. The real works of art are the graffiti that adorn the underpass, whose theme was: "Va Pensiero..." (Go Thought) from Giuseppe Verdi's Nabucco". An invitation to reflect on the peaceful and harmonious relationship between peoples, against all forms of physical and moral violence.
Continuing the ride going through the Ducal Park, a must for a bike itinerary in the city, we go on Viale Piacenza on the corner with Via Marchesi where we find the murales by Andrea Tarli - the winning artist of the competition "Sulla via per una casa più vivibile e visibile"- a work of 2019 called "Natura rigogliosa", on the subject of nature.
Passing the Ducal Park, we cross the characteristic Oltretorrente district and arrive in Piazzale Rondani where in 2014, as part of Parma Street View, the collective murales of over 250 square meters were made, dedicated to the theme of the Parma Barricades (created in August 1922 in defense of the Oltretorrente), covering the twelve spans of the wall of the G. Marconi Linguistic High School.
From here we continue towards the heart of the historical centre, along via Farini, passing through Piazza Garibaldi and Via Cavour, to enter the small Borgo Serena where Verdi's women stand out, a project by Artkademy and promoted by the artist Roberta Musi, who in 2020 wanted to pay homage to the female figures of the works of Maestro Giuseppe Verdi, in a non-traditional story along the shutters of the street.
Continuing along Piazzale della Pace and Piazza della Pilotta, in Viale Toschi we find Terzo Paesaggio, the mural created by the artist PAO in 2015 on the perimeter wall of the bus shelter, a homage to the writings by Gilles Clément; a work that reflects on the ways in which the natural landscape can create a real ecosystem within the city, suggesting the values of respect and coexistence.
The last stop of the tour, just a little farther from the historical centre, is in Via Venezia. To get here we pass through the Via Trento underpass, behind the station, one of the most traditional places for city street art, where we find a representation about ecology, referred to as part of #IKEAlovesEARTH: it is La città che respira, an art project by Others Associazione Culturale in which a strange face with a long mustache observes the surrounding environment.
From here we finally reach Via Venezia, where there are the murales created by the painter of Parma Adriano Orlandi in 1997 - they are along the wall of a nursery school.