Busseto (
Bussetano: ;
Parmigiano
Parmesan (, ) is an Italian hard, granular cheese produced from cow's milk and aged at least 12 months. It is a grana-type cheese, along with Grana Padano, the historic , and others.
The term ''Parmesan'' may refer to either Parmigiano Re ...
: ) is a ''
comune
A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the City status in Italy, titl ...
'' in the
province of Parma
The province of Parma () is a Provinces of Italy, province in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. Its largest town and capital is the city of Parma.
It is made up of 47 ''comuni'' (: ''comune''). It has an area of and a total population of aro ...
, in
Emilia-Romagna
Emilia-Romagna (, , both , ; or ; ) is an Regions of Italy, administrative region of northern Italy, comprising the historical regions of Emilia (region), Emilia and Romagna. Its capital is Bologna. It has an area of , and a population of 4.4 m ...
in Northern
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
with about inhabitants. Its history is quite well documented back to the 10th century, and for almost five hundred years it was the capital of Stato Pallavicino, which eventually became part of the
Duchy of Parma
The Duchy of Parma and Piacenza (, ) was an Italian state created in 1545 and located in northern Italy, in the current region of Emilia-Romagna.
Originally a realm of the Farnese family after Pope Paul III made it a hereditary duchy for his s ...
. The town is about south of
Cremona
Cremona ( , , ; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po (river), Po river in the middle of the Po Valley. It is the capital of the province of Cremona and the seat of the local city a ...
in
Lombardy
The Lombardy Region (; ) is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in northern Italy and has a population of about 10 million people, constituting more than one-sixth of Italy's population. Lombardy is ...
.
Etymology
The first written sources give the name as "Buxetum" in the early twelfth century. As such it appears the town's name is cognate with:
*buxus as in common box,
buxus sempervirens
''Buxus sempervirens'', the common box, European box, or boxwood, is a species of flowering plant in the genus ''Buxus'', native to western and southern Europe, northwest Africa, and southwest Asia, from southern England south to northern Morocco ...
, cognate with places such as
Bushey
Bushey is a town in the Hertsmere borough of Hertfordshire in the East of England. It had a population of 25,328 in the 2011 census, rising to 28,416 in the 2021 census, an increase of 12.19%. This makes Bushey the second most populated town ...
; or
*busetum – a shott, fold or pen (fenced clearing) for oxen, cognate with places such as
Oxpens.
Municipal palace and galleried theatre
The town hosts La Rocca, on the site of the founding fortress of Adalberto
Pallavicini, scion of his family, in the eleventh century. In the first half of the thirteenth century, it was laid out afresh to figure a moat and a drawbridge facing the square. Successive damage which lost the drawbridge and parts of the walls was followed by alterations and partial rebuilding. In 1857 its bulk was rebuilt almost entirely in neo-Gothic style – under theatre architect Pier Luigi Montecchini (b., d. ). Its present form has preserved the 13th century keep and the main tower. La Rocca, within which lies the Teatro Verdi, it is now the Municipal Palace, the seat of the municipality of Busseto.
Notable residents
Opera
Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...
composer
A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music.
Etymology and def ...
Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi ( ; ; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for List of compositions by Giuseppe Verdi, his operas. He was born near Busseto, a small town in the province of Parma ...
was born in the nearby village of
Le Roncole in 1813 and he moved to the town in 1824. Other figures from the world of opera are associated with the town: until his death, retired
tenor
A tenor is a type of male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second B below m ...
Carlo Bergonzi owned the hotel ''I due Foscari'', which also hosts the ''Accademia Verdiana''.
Bass-baritone
A bass-baritone is a high-lying bass or low-lying "classical" baritone voice type which shares certain qualities with the true baritone voice. The term arose in the late 19th century to describe the particular type of voice required to sing three ...
Luca Pisaroni grew up there from the age of four after his family moved to Busseto in 1979, where his father owned a car-repair firm and his mother was a teacher. It was in that town where, he noted, "you feel Verdi's spirit all over the place!"
and where his love of opera began. Italian journalist
Giovannino Guareschi
Giovannino Oliviero Giuseppe Guareschi (; 1 May 1908 – 22 July 1968) was an Italian journalist, cartoonist, and humorist whose best known creation is the priest Don Camillo and Peppone, Don Camillo.
Life and career
Guareschi was born into a ...
also lived in Le Roncole, and his ''Mondo Piccolo'' is set there.
Doctor
Claudio Carosino was born in Busseto. The hospital in Busseto is named after him.
Main sites associated with Giuseppe Verdi

In the town and locally many sites linked to the life of Verdi can be visited. These include:
Le Roncole
The nearby village of
Le Roncole was Verdi's birthplace on 10 October 1813. The house has been a national monument since 1901.
Casa Barezzi
Close by the main square is the home of Antonio Barezzi, the man who supported his early endeavours. He became Verdi's patron and his father-in-law. In the upstairs lounge, the young Verdi gave his first public performance in 1830 and continued to frequent the house until the death of his benefactor.
The first portrait of Verdi and an oil depicting Antonio are on display in the house. Verdi's letters are displayed. This house is the headquarters of the Friends of Verdi; the organization oversaw the restoration of the building in 1979 and 1998. Since 2001, there has been a permanent exhibition of objects and documents related to Verdi and his relationship to the Barezzis.
Busseto churches where Verdi played the organ
These two of Busseto's ten churches (''chiese'') were where Verdi played the organ.
Santa Maria degli Angeli has its own article as does .
Palazzo Orlandi
This is the large, ornate house which Verdi bought in 1845. He lived there with
Giuseppina Strepponi, not yet his wife, from 1849 to 1851. Verdi composed ''
Luisa Miller
''Luisa Miller'' is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Salvadore Cammarano, based on the play '' Kabale und Liebe'' (''Intrigue and Love'') by the German dramatist Friedrich von Schiller.
Verdi's initial idea f ...
'', ''
Stiffelio'' and ''
Rigoletto
''Rigoletto'' is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the 1832 play '' Le roi s'amuse'' by Victor Hugo. Despite serious initial problems with the Austrian censors who had c ...
'' while living there.
Teatro Giuseppe Verdi
The
Teatro Giuseppe Verdi is a small 300-seat theatre built by the municipality without Verdi's prior approval however he donated towards its completion.
National Giuseppe Verdi Museum
The
National Giuseppe Verdi Museum is housed at the Renaissance Villa Pallavicino;
it was inaugurated on 10, October 2009, the 196th anniversary of the composer's birth.
Villa Verdi
In the nearby village of Sant'Agata, in the
province of Piacenza
The province of Piacenza () is a province in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. Its provincial capital is the city Piacenza. As of 2016, it has a total population of 286,572 inhabitants over an area of , giving it a population density of 111.38 ...
, is the
Villa Verdi
Villa Verdi is the estate house that composer Giuseppe Verdi ordered built in 1848 on farmland he had owned for four years and where he lived from that year until the end of his life. It is in the village of Sant'Agata (Villanova sull'Arda), Sant' ...
, the house which he commissioned in 1848 while living in Busseto and where his parents lived until 1851, after which it became Verdi's main home for the rest of his life. He lived there less frequently after the death of his wife, Giuseppina, in 1897.
"Piacenza - Villanova d'Arda - Villa Verdi S. Agata"
Information on giuseppeverdi.it (In English)
Transportation
Busseto has a railway station on the Cremona–Fidenza line.
Sister cities
* Carry-le-Rouet, Bouches-du-Rhône
Bouches-du-Rhône ( ; , ; ; "the Mouths of the Rhône") is a Departments of France, department in southern France. It borders Vaucluse to the north, Gard to the west and Var (department), Var to the east. The Mediterranean Sea lies to the sout ...
, France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
Friendship city: Sarasota, Florida, US
See also
* San Bartolomeo, Busseto
* Sant'Ignazio, Busseto
References
Notes
Sources
*Associazione Amici di Verdi (ed.) (1997), ''Con Verdi nella sua terra'', Busseto. (in English)
*Associazione Amici di Verdi (unk.), ''Con Verdi in Casa Barezzi'', Busseto. (In English, French, and German)
*Mordacci, Alessandra (2001), (trans. Studio Dott. Annita Brindani), ''An Itinerary of History and Art in the Places of Verdi'', Busseto: Busseto Tourist Office. (In English)
External links
Busseto Tourist Office website
Verdi site with photos of Busseto locations, English subsite
Amici di Verdi website
()
international-giuseppe-verdi-foundation website (in at least 5 languages)
Museo Nazionale Giuseppe Verdi
��close to Busseto
{{Authority control
Cities and towns in Emilia-Romagna
Giuseppe Verdi