Santissima Annunziata, Parma, Mannerist church building in Parma, Italy.

The Santissima Annunziata is a Mannerist church in Parma built around an oval floor plan with ten side chapels, five on each side. The interior walls carry stucco decoration and statuary, and the main altar sits at one end of the long axis of the oval.

The original church, dedicated to Saints Gervaso and Protaso, stood outside the walls and was demolished in 1546 by Duke Pier Luigi Farnese. Duke Ottavio Farnese commissioned the present building in 1566 to celebrate the peace and gain popular support; the first stone was laid on 4 June 1566. Giambattista Fornovo designed it, but by 1616 the roof had partly collapsed and the dome was unfinished. Margherita Farnese, who became a nun, then funded Girolamo Rainaldi's heavily buttressed dome.

The name refers to the Annunciation to Mary, a theme that runs through the paintings and sculptures found in the side chapels. The space is still used for personal prayer today, and candles in front of the altars give the interior a quiet, lived-in feeling.

The church is in central Parma and within walking distance of the city's other main sights. Visiting outside of service times gives you more freedom to move around and look at the chapels and decoration at your own pace.

The entrance arch stands on Via Massimo D'Azeglio, the former strada maestra di Santa Croce, and above its central door a large stucco relief of the Annunciate Madonna was made in 1681 by Giovan Battista Barberini. The oval interior is reached through this single monumental arch, not through a facade on the long axis.