THE PALACE

The story of Farnese Palace, eighth residence of the dinasty up to its extinction in 1731, began in 1558, when the Dukes Ottavio and Margherita started its construction,appointing Francesco Paciotto for the project. This included the demolition of the 14th century Citadel, which had been previously commissioned by Galeazzo Visconti: the western part, with its gate, crenellations and two towers remained. Subsequently, Jacopo Barozzi, known as Vignola, took over, but the contruction stopped in 1602 and only a half of the original project was completed. The building has three floors, two mezzanines, a large basement on the ground floor and two elegant loggias facing the inner ward, with corner niches and exedras. The architectural restoration has made it possible to appreciate the large volumes of the palace. As to the treasures which were once kept inside, after Charles Borbon became king of Naples in 1731, they were all taken to Naples: paintings, furniture, tapestries; therefore, the palace rapidly declined: it was used as barrack by the Austrian army, occupied by Napoleon’s troops and after World War II it was used to host the families who no longer had a house. 


The difficult and expensive restoration only started in 1965. Today Farnese Palace hosts the City Museums with an Art Gallery, the Carriage Museum, the Archaeological section and the Risorgimento Museum.


MUSEUMS

- Museo della Carrozze: among the most prestigious of Carriage Museums in Italy for the variety of its pieces and their preservation. Among the carriages on show there are gala carriages, travel carriages, stages, landau, calashes, prams from the 18th and 19th centuries. 

- Armeria: of this arms collection (about 400 pieces) there are some examples of offensive and defensive arms. The armours are also interesting, some splendid works by the Milanese armorer Pompeo della Cesa, and a series of foot soldier swords from Veneto of the 17th century. 

- Affreschi, Sculture, Fasti Farnesiani, Vetri e Ceramiche: a large collection of frescoes, sculptures, epigraphs, glasses and ceramics from the 13th to the 18th century mainly from religious collections or private donations.

- Museo del Risorgimento: distributed on four rooms, it collects documents, rare objects, pictures, and arms from the periods 1848-49 and 1859-61.

- Pinacoteca: the art gallery houses the famous Tondo by Botticelli depicting the Virgin in adoration of the Child with the young Saint John the Baptist. The gallery also preserves the precious “Rizzi-Vaccari” collection.

- Museo Archeologico: in the Cittadella Viscontea nearby, the archaeological museum collects findings and objects attesting the Prehistory and Proto-history of Piacenza territory and, in a dedicated room, there is the famous Fegato Etrusco (Etruscan liver). This is a bronze model of a sheep liver with inscriptions of names of gods, a rare testimony to Etruscan religious practices.