DUCAL PALACE OF COLORNO
Palatial Residence from Beheaded Countess to an Empress
The
beautiful Italian Baroque Palace and Gardens of Colorno have passed through
many hands. An original medieval castle once guarded the curve
of a small stream flowing into the River Po which dominates the central
flat plain of Northern Italy in the region of Emilia Romagna. The 13th
century fortress first of the Correggio and later the Terzi families,
came to the hands of the Sanseverino Counts in the late 1400’s
with the addition of an extensive garden. Intrigue came to Colorno when
Pope Paul III, a member of the Farnese family of the north returned to
the papal throne in Rome and named made Parma the capital of a duchy
which included Parma, Piacenza and Guastalla.
The surrounding feudal
barons were none too happy, and fostered a revolt, but the plot was thwarted
and six of the surrounding Italian nobles were beheaded in the main square
of Parma in 1612 by the first Duke Ranuccio Farnese of Parma. Among them
was the Countess Barbara Sanseverino who had expanded the palace and
the grounds. With the end of the countess, the Palace of Colorno fell
to the Farnese’s control. Duke Ranuccio II and his wife Margherita,
named for the patron saint of Parma, instituted a complete reconstruction
into a grand Baroque palace under architect Ferdinando Bibbiena. The
Bourbons succeeded the Farnese in the 1700’s and the palace again
received a renovation inspired by the Versailles Palace in France and
became one of the best known palaces in Italy.
After
the French Revolution and Napoleon’s march across Europe.
The Duchy of Parma was annexed into the French Empire of Bonaparte (see Madame
de Stael Chateau Coppet) in the Treaty of Vienna. The Palace
of Colorno was given to Napoleon’s second wife Empress Marie Louise,
who thought of it as her favorite home away from home (see Napoleon's
Fontainebleau Palace) and lived
there until her death as the Grand Duchess of Austria (see Habsburgs
Kaisers Tomb Vienna) after Napoleon
met his Waterloo. Marie Louise reshaped the garden in the English style
park it is today.
The palace
became a psychiatric hospital on the 1930’s
and was heavily damaged during the bombing of Parma in WWII. Undergoing
an extensive renovation in the 1990’s the Palace has now returned
to much of its earlier splendor. The Palace houses the Municipal Library
of Colorno and a music school. The grand rooms and stunning stairways
of the palace are mostly devoid of furniture, but the Ducal Chapel is
furnished with beautiful18th Century art and hosts exhibitions and music
events. The gardens are open to the public and host a flower exhibition
every spring.
Colorno is a quite small little town, just a stop on the road really.
The Colorno Palace is about 10 miles north of Parma off the main A1
Autostrada del Sole following the Via Romagna from Modena or along
the S420 country
route from Mantua, near Casalmaggiore (see Casalmaggiore:
Garibaldi and Jewelry). About 20 minutes by car toward
Mantua is the unique walled city of Sabbioneta (see Sabbioneta:
Lombardy Duke's Walled City).
By train, Colorno is about 2 hours from Milan or
Verona.
The small station
is
several
blocks
from
the
back end of the park grounds. © Bargain
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may not be copied or reprinted without permission. Interior photos
courtesy Turismo Parma.
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