We crossed the bed of a torrent that was absolutely dry, but broad, and spanned by a noble bridge that Napoleon had commenced and which his widow had just finished. Nearly every thing is constructed of bricks, still. Near Parma we passed an old castellated edifice that excited a good deal of curiosity among us by its name, which is Castle Guelfo. I could get no history of this fortress, but it is fair to presume it had some connexion with the wars of the Guelphs and the Ghibellines. The building stands directly on the road, like a tavern, and in a perfectly level country. The main edifice, which is very high, is ranged around a court; it is about one hundred and fifty feet on each front, and is constructed of bricks and small stones placed in alternate layers of about three feet in thickness. The structure is surrounded by a ditch that is now dry. Three or four low, heavy, awkward towers are attached to the square building; and several appendages are scattered about, without the ditch. The whole is dilapidated, though still inhabited. We reached Parma very early, the day’s work being less than forty miles, over a perfect plain, although it nearly carried us from one side of the duchy to the other. This is a much finer town than Piacenza, and materially larger. We were no sooner housed and refreshed, than we hurried off to see the palace, the theatre, and the other curiosities. The first is an ancient, irregular edifice of bricks, with a small, new, stuccoed façade. The theatre is one of the largest in Europe, and, one would think, capable of holding all the _élite_ of the duchy. A covered gallery built on arches connects it with the palace, of which it is properly an appendage. We saw many cockney sights, such as the cradle of the young Napoleon, and other similar wonders; but the duchess herself, of whom I could gladly have stolen a glimpse, was at Vienna, where she passes most of her time. The servants spoke of her as _Sa Majesté_, and told us that she maintained a good deal of state. She has three or four thousand troops, _gendarmes_ included; and we saw the garrison here, in coats of sky-blue faced with red. The Academy of Arts repaid us for the visit. It has many good pictures, one in particular by Correggio, who was a native of the vicinity. Here we met, for the first time, with specimens of architecture that, I believe, are nearly, if not quite, peculiar to Italy. A tower is erected near the church to contain the bells, which is called the _campanile_; and a sort of dome stands at hand, a structure altogether apart, in which the office of baptism is performed. The latter, from its object, is called the _Battisteria_.