Piazza della Steccata

Piazza della Steccata, located almost immediately next to piazza Garibaldi, gets its name from the large church that dominates the square.

The church was built, in the shape of a Greek cross, between 1521 and 1539 by Gianfrancesco and Bernardino Zaccagni.
A young Antonio da Sangallo designed the elegant dome. The façade and exterior ornamentation was completed in 1740.  An important series of frescos painted by Parmigianino decorate the inside of the church.

The artist depicted the mysteries and symbols of alchemy in his representation of the wise and foolish virgins that are on the arch over the main alter.
The sacristy, an astonishing jewel of seventeenth-century intaglios, houses the precious chasubles and sacred paraments. 
Along the hallway leading to the sacristy, there are hundred of noble coats of arms from the Constantinian Order of Saint George and badges from the Order of Chivalry.

The tombs of Farnese and Bourbon dukes are located beneath the sacristy, while in the foyer one can admire the mausoleum of count Adam of Neipperg, Marie Louise of Austria’s second husband who was killed by Lorenzo Bartolini.

The side chapels contain monuments of famous people from Parma. The apse is dominated by a piece of the 15th century miraculous statue of the Madonna that, initially protected by a gate, gave its name to the sanctuary built in her honor.