National Giuseppe Verdi Museum – Villa Pallavicino (Busseto)

Note: the museum is temporarily closed for renovation. Check bussetolive.com for updates on the reopening.

Villa Pallavicino is one of the finest Renaissance residences in the Parma province — a grand 16th-century villa surrounded by a square moat and gardens, originally built as a summer retreat for the Pallavicino family who ruled Busseto for five centuries. The building's five-module floor plan in a chessboard pattern mirrors the Pallavicino coat of arms. Inside, Baroque frescoes by Evangelista Draghi and Ilario Spolverini decorate the ceilings.

Since 2009, the villa has housed the Museo Nazionale Giuseppe Verdi, an immersive museum designed by the celebrated set designer and director Pier Luigi Pizzi. Twenty-one rooms across two floors present all 27 of Verdi's operas in chronological order through original stage designs from Casa Ricordi, period costumes, atmospheric lighting and the composer's own music. The experience is theatrical and emotional rather than academic — you walk through Verdi's creative life as if moving through a series of opera sets. Texts on lecterns were written by the art critic Philippe Daverio.

In the park, the Scuderie (former stables) house the Renata Tebaldi Museum, dedicated to the great soprano.