In the city of Parma, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy

 Should you come across Parma ham (prosciutto di Parma) at a store or on a restaurant menu, you would be looking at a specialty product that had made its way there from Italy.

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(in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy, on the Parma River, northwest of Bologna) If reincarnation was made available to you as a late-in-life option, you might want to come back as a Parmesan. I mean, where else would you be able to cycle to work through streets that are virtually devoid of cars, lunch on fresh prosciutto and aged parmigiano reggiano, or quaff crisp, refreshing Lambrusco wine in regal art-nouveau cafes -- and spend sultry summer evenings listening to classical music in architecturally dramatic opera houses?

+ As one of Italy's most prosperous cities, Parma is rather less chaotic than Bologna; this is the city that gave the world a composer called Verdi and enough ham and cheese to supply a deli chain. Widely known for its contributions to world gastronomy (especially parmigiano cheese and Parma ham), Parma has also been revered by opera lovers since the days of Verdi, who was born in nearby Roncole. Parma’s historic sights include the 11th-century cathedral and its baptistry.

+ The city of Parma, founded by the Romans along the Via Aemilia in 183 BCE, was important as a road junction. It was later destroyed by the Ostrogoth king Theodoric. The city was rebuilt in the Middle Ages and was ruled by its bishops from the 9th century. Parma enjoyed communal liberty in the late 12th and 13th centuries, until its involvement in the struggles between the Holy Roman Empire and the papacy in the early 14th century, which led to its subjugation by a series of lordships. Made part of the Duchy of Parma and Piacenza by Pope Paul III in 1545, it was held by the Farnese dukes and later passed to the Austrians, from whom it was taken by Napoleon, who in 1815 gave it to his second consort, Marie Louise of Austria. In 1831 and 1848 it took part in the risings for independence and in 1861 became part of united Italy). In 1847, after Marie Louise, Duchess of Parma's death, it passed again to the House of Bourbon. On 15 September 1859 the dynasty was deposed, and Parma entered the newly formed province of Emilia under Luigi Carlo Farini. With the plebiscite of 1860 the former duchy became part of the unified Kingdom of Italy.

+ During World War II, Parma was a strong center of partisan resistance. The train station and marshalling yards were targets for high altitude bombing by the Allies in the spring of 1944. Much of the Palazzo della Pilotta was destroyed. Along with it the Teatro Farnese and part of the Biblioteca Palatina were destroyed by Allied bombs. Several other monuments were also damaged: Palazzo del Giardino, Steccata and San Giovanni churches, Palazzo Ducale, Paganini theater and the monument to Verdi. Parma was liberated from the German occupation on 26 April 1945 by the partisan resistance and the Brazilian Expeditionary Force.