diff --git a/cpp/CMakeLists.txt b/cpp/CMakeLists.txt
index 6d701079b482c..6ed2768d13918 100644
--- a/cpp/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/cpp/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -378,6 +378,16 @@ function(ADD_ARROW_TEST_DEPENDENCIES REL_TEST_NAME)
   add_dependencies(${TEST_NAME} ${ARGN})
 endfunction()
 
+# A wrapper for target_link_libraries() that is compatible with NO_TESTS.
+function(ARROW_TEST_LINK_LIBRARIES REL_TEST_NAME)
+  if(NO_TESTS)
+    return()
+  endif()
+  get_filename_component(TEST_NAME ${REL_TEST_NAME} NAME_WE)
+
+  target_link_libraries(${TEST_NAME} ${ARGN})
+endfunction()
+
 enable_testing()
 
 ############################################################
@@ -528,6 +538,7 @@ set(ARROW_SRCS
   src/arrow/ipc/metadata-internal.cc
 
   src/arrow/types/construct.cc
+  src/arrow/types/decimal.cc
   src/arrow/types/json.cc
   src/arrow/types/list.cc
   src/arrow/types/primitive.cc
diff --git a/cpp/src/arrow/parquet/CMakeLists.txt b/cpp/src/arrow/parquet/CMakeLists.txt
index 7b449affab025..0d5cf263ec3e2 100644
--- a/cpp/src/arrow/parquet/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/cpp/src/arrow/parquet/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -19,17 +19,23 @@
 # arrow_parquet : Arrow <-> Parquet adapter
 
 set(PARQUET_SRCS
+  schema.cc
 )
 
 set(PARQUET_LIBS
+  arrow
+  ${PARQUET_SHARED_LIB}
 )
 
-add_library(arrow_parquet STATIC
+add_library(arrow_parquet SHARED
   ${PARQUET_SRCS}
 )
 target_link_libraries(arrow_parquet ${PARQUET_LIBS})
 SET_TARGET_PROPERTIES(arrow_parquet PROPERTIES LINKER_LANGUAGE CXX)
 
+ADD_ARROW_TEST(parquet-schema-test)
+ARROW_TEST_LINK_LIBRARIES(parquet-schema-test arrow_parquet)
+
 # Headers: top level
 install(FILES
   DESTINATION include/arrow/parquet)
diff --git a/cpp/src/arrow/parquet/parquet-schema-test.cc b/cpp/src/arrow/parquet/parquet-schema-test.cc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..9c3093d9ff7c9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cpp/src/arrow/parquet/parquet-schema-test.cc
@@ -0,0 +1,147 @@
+// Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+// or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+// distributed with this work for additional information
+// regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+// to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+// "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+// with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+// software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+// "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+// KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+// specific language governing permissions and limitations
+// under the License.
+
+#include <memory>
+#include <vector>
+
+#include "gtest/gtest.h"
+
+#include "arrow/test-util.h"
+#include "arrow/type.h"
+#include "arrow/util/status.h"
+
+#include "arrow/parquet/schema.h"
+
+namespace arrow {
+
+namespace parquet {
+
+using parquet_cpp::Repetition;
+using parquet_cpp::schema::NodePtr;
+using parquet_cpp::schema::GroupNode;
+using parquet_cpp::schema::PrimitiveNode;
+
+const auto BOOL = std::make_shared<BooleanType>();
+const auto UINT8 = std::make_shared<UInt8Type>();
+const auto INT32 = std::make_shared<Int32Type>();
+const auto INT64 = std::make_shared<Int64Type>();
+const auto FLOAT = std::make_shared<FloatType>();
+const auto DOUBLE = std::make_shared<DoubleType>();
+const auto UTF8 = std::make_shared<StringType>();
+const auto BINARY = std::make_shared<ListType>(
+    std::make_shared<Field>("", UINT8));
+
+class TestConvertParquetSchema : public ::testing::Test {
+ public:
+  virtual void SetUp() {}
+
+  void CheckFlatSchema(const std::shared_ptr<Schema>& expected_schema) {
+    ASSERT_EQ(expected_schema->num_fields(), result_schema_->num_fields());
+    for (int i = 0; i < expected_schema->num_fields(); ++i) {
+      auto lhs = result_schema_->field(i);
+      auto rhs = expected_schema->field(i);
+      EXPECT_TRUE(lhs->Equals(rhs))
+        << i << " " << lhs->ToString() << " != " << rhs->ToString();
+    }
+  }
+
+  Status ConvertSchema(const std::vector<NodePtr>& nodes) {
+    NodePtr schema = GroupNode::Make("schema", Repetition::REPEATED, nodes);
+    descr_.Init(schema);
+    return FromParquetSchema(&descr_, &result_schema_);
+  }
+
+ protected:
+  parquet_cpp::SchemaDescriptor descr_;
+  std::shared_ptr<Schema> result_schema_;
+};
+
+TEST_F(TestConvertParquetSchema, ParquetFlatPrimitives) {
+  std::vector<NodePtr> parquet_fields;
+  std::vector<std::shared_ptr<Field>> arrow_fields;
+
+  parquet_fields.push_back(
+      PrimitiveNode::Make("boolean", Repetition::REQUIRED, parquet_cpp::Type::BOOLEAN));
+  arrow_fields.push_back(std::make_shared<Field>("boolean", BOOL, false));
+
+  parquet_fields.push_back(
+      PrimitiveNode::Make("int32", Repetition::REQUIRED, parquet_cpp::Type::INT32));
+  arrow_fields.push_back(std::make_shared<Field>("int32", INT32, false));
+
+  parquet_fields.push_back(
+      PrimitiveNode::Make("int64", Repetition::REQUIRED, parquet_cpp::Type::INT64));
+  arrow_fields.push_back(std::make_shared<Field>("int64", INT64, false));
+
+  parquet_fields.push_back(
+      PrimitiveNode::Make("float", Repetition::OPTIONAL, parquet_cpp::Type::FLOAT));
+  arrow_fields.push_back(std::make_shared<Field>("float", FLOAT));
+
+  parquet_fields.push_back(
+      PrimitiveNode::Make("double", Repetition::OPTIONAL, parquet_cpp::Type::DOUBLE));
+  arrow_fields.push_back(std::make_shared<Field>("double", DOUBLE));
+
+  parquet_fields.push_back(
+      PrimitiveNode::Make("binary", Repetition::OPTIONAL,
+          parquet_cpp::Type::BYTE_ARRAY));
+  arrow_fields.push_back(std::make_shared<Field>("binary", BINARY));
+
+  parquet_fields.push_back(
+      PrimitiveNode::Make("string", Repetition::OPTIONAL,
+          parquet_cpp::Type::BYTE_ARRAY,
+          parquet_cpp::LogicalType::UTF8));
+  arrow_fields.push_back(std::make_shared<Field>("string", UTF8));
+
+  parquet_fields.push_back(
+      PrimitiveNode::Make("flba-binary", Repetition::OPTIONAL,
+          parquet_cpp::Type::FIXED_LEN_BYTE_ARRAY,
+          parquet_cpp::LogicalType::NONE, 12));
+  arrow_fields.push_back(std::make_shared<Field>("flba-binary", BINARY));
+
+  auto arrow_schema = std::make_shared<Schema>(arrow_fields);
+  ASSERT_OK(ConvertSchema(parquet_fields));
+
+  CheckFlatSchema(arrow_schema);
+}
+
+TEST_F(TestConvertParquetSchema, UnsupportedThings) {
+  std::vector<NodePtr> unsupported_nodes;
+
+  unsupported_nodes.push_back(
+      PrimitiveNode::Make("int96", Repetition::REQUIRED, parquet_cpp::Type::INT96));
+
+  unsupported_nodes.push_back(
+      GroupNode::Make("repeated-group", Repetition::REPEATED, {}));
+
+  unsupported_nodes.push_back(
+      PrimitiveNode::Make("int32", Repetition::OPTIONAL,
+          parquet_cpp::Type::INT32, parquet_cpp::LogicalType::DATE));
+
+  unsupported_nodes.push_back(
+      PrimitiveNode::Make("int64", Repetition::OPTIONAL,
+          parquet_cpp::Type::INT64, parquet_cpp::LogicalType::TIMESTAMP_MILLIS));
+
+  for (const NodePtr& node : unsupported_nodes) {
+    ASSERT_RAISES(NotImplemented, ConvertSchema({node}));
+  }
+}
+
+TEST(TestNodeConversion, DateAndTime) {
+}
+
+} // namespace parquet
+
+} // namespace arrow
diff --git a/cpp/src/arrow/parquet/schema.cc b/cpp/src/arrow/parquet/schema.cc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..6b1de572617b8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cpp/src/arrow/parquet/schema.cc
@@ -0,0 +1,178 @@
+// Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+// or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+// distributed with this work for additional information
+// regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+// to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+// "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+// with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+// software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+// "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+// KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+// specific language governing permissions and limitations
+// under the License.
+
+#include "arrow/parquet/schema.h"
+
+#include <vector>
+
+#include "parquet/api/schema.h"
+
+#include "arrow/util/status.h"
+#include "arrow/types/decimal.h"
+
+using parquet_cpp::schema::Node;
+using parquet_cpp::schema::NodePtr;
+using parquet_cpp::schema::GroupNode;
+using parquet_cpp::schema::PrimitiveNode;
+
+using parquet_cpp::LogicalType;
+
+namespace arrow {
+
+namespace parquet {
+
+const auto BOOL = std::make_shared<BooleanType>();
+const auto UINT8 = std::make_shared<UInt8Type>();
+const auto INT32 = std::make_shared<Int32Type>();
+const auto INT64 = std::make_shared<Int64Type>();
+const auto FLOAT = std::make_shared<FloatType>();
+const auto DOUBLE = std::make_shared<DoubleType>();
+const auto UTF8 = std::make_shared<StringType>();
+const auto BINARY = std::make_shared<ListType>(
+    std::make_shared<Field>("", UINT8));
+
+TypePtr MakeDecimalType(const PrimitiveNode* node) {
+  int precision = node->decimal_metadata().precision;
+  int scale = node->decimal_metadata().scale;
+  return std::make_shared<DecimalType>(precision, scale);
+}
+
+static Status FromByteArray(const PrimitiveNode* node, TypePtr* out) {
+  switch (node->logical_type()) {
+    case LogicalType::UTF8:
+      *out = UTF8;
+      break;
+    default:
+      // BINARY
+      *out = BINARY;
+      break;
+  }
+  return Status::OK();
+}
+
+static Status FromFLBA(const PrimitiveNode* node, TypePtr* out) {
+  switch (node->logical_type()) {
+    case LogicalType::NONE:
+      *out = BINARY;
+      break;
+    case LogicalType::DECIMAL:
+      *out = MakeDecimalType(node);
+      break;
+    default:
+      return Status::NotImplemented("unhandled type");
+      break;
+  }
+
+  return Status::OK();
+}
+
+static Status FromInt32(const PrimitiveNode* node, TypePtr* out) {
+  switch (node->logical_type()) {
+    case LogicalType::NONE:
+      *out = INT32;
+      break;
+    default:
+      return Status::NotImplemented("Unhandled logical type for int32");
+      break;
+  }
+  return Status::OK();
+}
+
+static Status FromInt64(const PrimitiveNode* node, TypePtr* out) {
+  switch (node->logical_type()) {
+    case LogicalType::NONE:
+      *out = INT64;
+      break;
+    default:
+      return Status::NotImplemented("Unhandled logical type for int64");
+      break;
+  }
+  return Status::OK();
+}
+
+// TODO: Logical Type Handling
+Status NodeToField(const NodePtr& node, std::shared_ptr<Field>* out) {
+  std::shared_ptr<DataType> type;
+
+  if (node->is_repeated()) {
+    return Status::NotImplemented("No support yet for repeated node types");
+  }
+
+  if (node->is_group()) {
+    const GroupNode* group = static_cast<const GroupNode*>(node.get());
+    std::vector<std::shared_ptr<Field>> fields(group->field_count());
+    for (int i = 0; i < group->field_count(); i++) {
+      RETURN_NOT_OK(NodeToField(group->field(i), &fields[i]));
+    }
+    type = std::make_shared<StructType>(fields);
+  } else {
+    // Primitive (leaf) node
+    const PrimitiveNode* primitive = static_cast<const PrimitiveNode*>(node.get());
+
+    switch (primitive->physical_type()) {
+      case parquet_cpp::Type::BOOLEAN:
+        type = BOOL;
+        break;
+      case parquet_cpp::Type::INT32:
+        RETURN_NOT_OK(FromInt32(primitive, &type));
+        break;
+      case parquet_cpp::Type::INT64:
+        RETURN_NOT_OK(FromInt64(primitive, &type));
+        break;
+      case parquet_cpp::Type::INT96:
+        // TODO: Do we have that type in Arrow?
+        // type = TypePtr(new Int96Type());
+        return Status::NotImplemented("int96");
+      case parquet_cpp::Type::FLOAT:
+        type = FLOAT;
+        break;
+      case parquet_cpp::Type::DOUBLE:
+        type = DOUBLE;
+        break;
+      case parquet_cpp::Type::BYTE_ARRAY:
+        // TODO: Do we have that type in Arrow?
+        RETURN_NOT_OK(FromByteArray(primitive, &type));
+        break;
+      case parquet_cpp::Type::FIXED_LEN_BYTE_ARRAY:
+        RETURN_NOT_OK(FromFLBA(primitive, &type));
+        break;
+    }
+  }
+
+  *out = std::make_shared<Field>(node->name(), type, !node->is_required());
+  return Status::OK();
+}
+
+Status FromParquetSchema(const parquet_cpp::SchemaDescriptor* parquet_schema,
+    std::shared_ptr<Schema>* out) {
+  // TODO(wesm): Consider adding an arrow::Schema name attribute, which comes
+  // from the root Parquet node
+  const GroupNode* schema_node = static_cast<const GroupNode*>(
+      parquet_schema->schema().get());
+
+  std::vector<std::shared_ptr<Field>> fields(schema_node->field_count());
+  for (int i = 0; i < schema_node->field_count(); i++) {
+    RETURN_NOT_OK(NodeToField(schema_node->field(i), &fields[i]));
+  }
+
+  *out = std::make_shared<Schema>(fields);
+  return Status::OK();
+}
+
+} // namespace parquet
+
+} // namespace arrow
diff --git a/cpp/src/arrow/parquet/schema.h b/cpp/src/arrow/parquet/schema.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..61de193a33877
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cpp/src/arrow/parquet/schema.h
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+// Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+// or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+// distributed with this work for additional information
+// regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+// to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+// "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+// with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+// software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+// "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+// KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+// specific language governing permissions and limitations
+// under the License.
+
+#ifndef ARROW_PARQUET_SCHEMA_H
+#define ARROW_PARQUET_SCHEMA_H
+
+#include <memory>
+
+#include "parquet/api/schema.h"
+
+#include "arrow/schema.h"
+#include "arrow/type.h"
+
+namespace arrow {
+
+class Status;
+
+namespace parquet {
+
+Status NodeToField(const parquet_cpp::schema::NodePtr& node,
+    std::shared_ptr<Field>* out);
+
+Status FromParquetSchema(const parquet_cpp::SchemaDescriptor* parquet_schema,
+    std::shared_ptr<Schema>* out);
+
+} // namespace parquet
+
+} // namespace arrow
+
+#endif
diff --git a/cpp/src/arrow/types/decimal.cc b/cpp/src/arrow/types/decimal.cc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..f120c1a9dfde6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cpp/src/arrow/types/decimal.cc
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+// Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+// or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+// distributed with this work for additional information
+// regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+// to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+// "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+// with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+// software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+// "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+// KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+// specific language governing permissions and limitations
+// under the License.
+
+#include "arrow/types/decimal.h"
+
+#include <sstream>
+#include <string>
+
+namespace arrow {
+
+std::string DecimalType::ToString() const {
+  std::stringstream s;
+  s << "decimal(" << precision << ", " << scale << ")";
+  return s.str();
+}
+
+} // namespace arrow
+
diff --git a/cpp/src/arrow/types/decimal.h b/cpp/src/arrow/types/decimal.h
index 464c3ff8da92b..26243b42b0e7d 100644
--- a/cpp/src/arrow/types/decimal.h
+++ b/cpp/src/arrow/types/decimal.h
@@ -18,13 +18,24 @@
 #ifndef ARROW_TYPES_DECIMAL_H
 #define ARROW_TYPES_DECIMAL_H
 
+#include <string>
+
 #include "arrow/type.h"
 
 namespace arrow {
 
 struct DecimalType : public DataType {
+  explicit DecimalType(int precision_, int scale_)
+      : DataType(Type::DECIMAL), precision(precision_),
+        scale(scale_) { }
   int precision;
   int scale;
+
+  static char const *name() {
+    return "decimal";
+  }
+
+  std::string ToString() const override;
 };
 
 } // namespace arrow
diff --git a/cpp/src/arrow/util/status.h b/cpp/src/arrow/util/status.h
index b5931232dbdcb..4e273edcb8f1f 100644
--- a/cpp/src/arrow/util/status.h
+++ b/cpp/src/arrow/util/status.h
@@ -109,6 +109,7 @@ class Status {
   bool IsKeyError() const { return code() == StatusCode::KeyError; }
   bool IsInvalid() const { return code() == StatusCode::Invalid; }
   bool IsIOError() const { return code() == StatusCode::IOError; }
+  bool IsNotImplemented() const { return code() == StatusCode::NotImplemented; }
 
   // Return a string representation of this status suitable for printing.
   // Returns the string "OK" for success.
diff --git a/format/Layout.md b/format/Layout.md
index 2d46ece606ea7..1b532c6b3817c 100644
--- a/format/Layout.md
+++ b/format/Layout.md
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ Base requirements
 * Memory layout and random access patterns for each relative type
 * Null value representation
 
-## Non-goals (for this document
+## Non-goals (for this document)
 
 * To enumerate or specify logical types that can be implemented as primitive
   (fixed-width) value types. For example: signed and unsigned integers,