APE Parma Museo

The Palazzo Ape Museo, also known as the Palazzo della Banca d'Italia, is an imposing Renaissance palace in the historic center of Parma. The building at Strada Farini 32 occupies an entire block, with a nearly rectangular floor plan and two interior courtyards. The symmetrical stucco facade rises three stories and shows typical features of the Neo-Renaissance style, added during renovations between 1937 and 1940. On the ground floor, a large round-arched portal and rusticated windows dominate, while the main floor is marked by a central French door and smooth frames with reliefs. A lower wing at the northeast corner completes the ensemble with similar decorative elements.

The history of the property goes back to the Middle Ages, when a significant private building already stood on this site. Over the centuries the owners changed several times, among them the Pettorelli counts and the Ortalli family, who had the house redecorated in the mid-19th century. After the death of the last descendant in 1889, the estate first passed to the Diocese of Parma before being taken over by various banks. From 1906 the Banca d'Italia used the palace as its regional headquarters and had the courtyard fitted with a glass roof to create a public hall.

Today the building houses the Ape Parma Museo of the Monteparma Foundation, which opened in 2018 after extensive renovations. In the reception area, you enter a barrel-vaulted salon that leads to the exhibition rooms. Especially valuable is the corner salon on the ground floor, decorated with 19th-century frescoes depicting allegories of music, literature, painting, and architecture. Other rooms show stucco work and traces of the building's earlier use as a bank, while the main floor holds an auditorium and halls for permanent exhibitions.