“ Parma, one of the finest cities of northern Italy, lies in a fertile tract of the Lombard plain, within view of the Alps and sheltered by the Apennines, 170 ft. above sea-level. From south to north it is traversed by the channel of the Parma, crossed here by three bridges; and from east to west runs the line of the Via Aemilia, by which ancient Parma was connected on the one hand with Ariminum (Rimini) , and on the other with Placentia (Piacenza) . ”

“ The interior is an extremely fine early Renaissance work. The frescoes on the cupola representing the vision of S. John are by Correggio, and the arabesques on the vault of the nave by Anselmi. The Madonna della Steccata (Our Lady of the Palisade) , a fine church in the form of a Greek cross, erected between 1521 and 1539 after Zaccagni’s designs, contai'ns the tombs and monuments of many of the Bourbon and Farnese dukes of Parma, and preserves its pictures, Parmigiano’s “Moses Breaking the Tables of the Law” and Anselmi’s “Coronation of the Virgin.” ”

“ Parma was thus governed for several years by Moreau de Saint-Mery and by Junot. At the congress of Vienna, Parma, Piacenza and Guastalla were assigned to Marie Louise (daughter of Francis I. of Austria and Napoleon’s second consort) , and on her death they passed in 1847 to Charles II. (son of Louis of Etruria and Marie Louise, daughter of Charles IV., king of Spain) . The new duke, unwilling to yield to the wishes of his people for greater political liberty, was soon compelled to take flight, and the duchy was for a time ruled by a provisional government and by Charles Albert of Sardinia ”