Talking teens are here: the telephone rings and, when you get the call, you hear a voice greeting you and saying: “Hi, it’s Giuseppe Verdi…”.
Talking statues is an innovative project that is a real journey into time. The statues in town, from their pedestal, take visitors back into their time and tell their stories.
It works by going in front of one of the statues included in the tour and featured on the map, where you can get a telephone call by the character portrayed, and the statues will tell you their story in about 2-3 minutes. You can choose to listen to the telephone call in three different ways: you can dial the number, scan the QR code located on the panel near the statue or download the app. English is also available.
A journey into time, an itinerary among 16 statues in the squares of Parma, the map is available on the website of the Talking teens.
The itinerary starts in the Ex-Eridania park, where you meet the statue of the famous orchestra director Arturo Toscanini.
In bronze, just over 2 meters high and supported by a pedestal, it is by the sculptor Maurizio Zaccardi and Toscanini is represented while conducting the orchestra.
The statue is walking distance from the beautiful Paganini Auditorium, an innovative example of industrial archeology recovery by the famous architect Renzo Piano, where many events and concerts take place, including those of the Filarmonica Toscanini.
From the ex-Eridania Park with a nice walk you arrive in Piazza Garibaldi, the heart of Parma, where you can know the stories of: Garibaldi, whose monument is dated 1893, Correggio, whose statue is located near the Palazzo del Comune and which represents the famous painter while observing one of his works, and the statue of Hercules and Antaeus at the fountain of the square, going towards Strada della Repubblica.
In the adjacent Piazza della Steccata we find the statue of Parmigianino, there from 1879 and that depicts the well-known painter while painting.
Going through the elegant Via Cavour you will find the statue of Enzo Sicuri, in Piazzale della Macina, dated 2004.
Ths third stop is continuing towards the House of Music, along Via Cavour and Piazza Duomo where you can see the beautiful Cathedral and the Baptistery. In Piazzale San Francesco in front of the homonymous church of San Francesco del Prato we find the beautiful statue of Verdi sitting on a bench, created for the occasion of the bicentenary of the Maestro's birth.
The original statue of Hercules and Antaeus, created between 1684 and 1687 by the sculptor Van der Struck, is located in the courtyard of Palazzo Cusani, where the Casa della Musica (House of Music) is located.
In the nearby Piazzale della Pace we find the granite and bronze group celebrating Verdi's works, just in front of the important Pilotta palace, and the statue of The Partisan, inaugurated in 1956.
The following stops of the itinerary are in the Oltretorrente district, inside the monumental Ducal park, where you can learn about the stories of Arianna and the Silenus Group, works sculpted in the middle of 18th century by the French architect Jean-Baptiste Boudarde.
The Ducal park is a large green area also known as "The Garden" and it is a perfect place to rest or to take a walk.
Leaving the park, a few minutes away on foot, we find the statues of Corridoni and Padre Lino who, in the convent of Santissima Annunziata, became one of the most loved people by the citizens of Parma.
The last two monuments to listen to are by the sculptor Ettore Ximenes: coming from the Ducal Park going towards the railway station along the way we meet the statue of Victory, a monument along the Parma stream dedicated to the Italian victory in the Great War, while in the square of the railway station there is the statue of Bottego, a well-known captain to whom the Natural History Museum of the city is also dedicated.
