The heart of Parma is the Piazza del Duomo, home to the major monuments including the Cathedral of Parma and Baptistery, outstanding examples of Romanesque architecture. The first is a thirteenth-century church characterized by an octagonal dome enriched with precious paintings and frescoes, like those of Correggio as the Ascension of Mary into heaven, among the greatest paintings of the Italian Renaissance. The baptistery is an octagonal building constructed of marble blocks that along with the Bishop’s Palace dating from the eleventh century, offer a picturesque medieval corner. As for other religious buildings to visit are the church of St. John the Evangelist, rich in a number of famous frescoes of Correggio, including the “Vision of St. John on Patmos”; the Basilica of Our Lady of Steccata of Zaccagni, built between 1521 and 1539; the Benedictine Monastery of St. Paul and the Church of San Vitale. Among the civil buildings we point Pilotta Palace, seat of the Library and the Teatro Farnese in 1617, already the scene of the court of the Duke of Parma and Piacenza, where inside houses works by artists such as Fra Angelico, Cima da Conegliano, Leonardo da Vinci, Correggio, Parmigianino, Matteo Anselmi, Guercino, and many others. You can also visit the Royal Theatre, one of the most important in Italy and Palazzo Ducale, surrounded by parkland. In the rest of the province not to be missed are Fontevivo with its imposing Cistercian abbey of the twelfth century, Fontanellato, where you can admire the Rocca Sanvitale and a cycle of frescoes by Parmigianino. Another beautiful town is Fidenza, with the precious Cathedral of San Donnino and Langhirano with the castle Torrechiara, built in the fifteenth century. Many are the civil architecture noteworthy among which we mention the Fortress of Bardi, Compiano Castle, with its village, the Castle of Felino and Colorno Palace, residence of the Farnese family, the Bourbons and Marie Louise of Austria.