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Villa Aria is located in  Marzabotto, in the province of Bologna; its park, 10 hectares of extension, is the only one in Emilia Romagna to present Etruscan ruins.
It was built in the 17^th century by the Barbazzi family, in an area anciently occupied  by an Etruscan city, Misa, Villa Aria in the 18^th century  became the centre of a small proto-industrial borgo, the heart of a wide estate. In 1831, the then owner, the count Aria, started the first archaeological excavations to find Etruscan findings.
The romantic English style park is characterised by some sweet  waving of the soil, an artificial lake with a panoramic island, caves and informal groups of plants. A sinuous path through holm oaks (Quercus ilex), cypresses (Cupressus spp.), hornbeams (Carpinus spp.) and lindens (Tilia spp.) leads to the Etruscan Acropolis, which is in the Southern part, where some landscapers, working for the Aria already in 1861, were able to create a suitable Mediterranean scenery. At North-West, there is the necropolis, which is normally closed to the public and where some fine pieces of furniture, jewels and bronzes have been found.
In the park usually nests a colony of grey herons.
The Villa is closed to the public, built it is possible to visit the cellars, where it is produced and sold a DOC wine variety .

This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)