Over the years, Piazza Garibaldi has undergone several changes and shifts in rule. It received its current name in 1893, when a statue of the great warrior Giuseppe Garibaldi, the unifier of Italy, was placed at its center, replacing a previous statue erected by the Bourbon rulers.

Its origins date back to Roman times, when Consul Emilio Lepidus created the main road in the region – Via Emilia – and the Roman forum. During the Middle Ages, it served as the center of daily and economic life in what was then called Piazza Grande.

From the 13th century, government buildings were added: the Renaissance Palazzo del Comune in the southern part, and slightly later, the Palazzo del Governatore on the northern side, notable for its Baroque central tower with a bell and two meridians on its walls.

In the 18th century, a French architect commissioned by Philip I of Bourbon redesigned the square, adding the Chiesa di San Pietro, whose neoclassical façade faces the square.

Today, the piazza is home to cafés and restaurants and serves as the beating heart of Parma: a place to meet, eat, rest, pass by others, and truly breathe in the spirit of the city.