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Casino dei Boschi is located inside Parco naturale regionale dei Boschi di Carrega, a wide area in the province of Parma. It was built between 1775 and 1789 for the duchess Maria Amalia di Borbone, who charged the French architect Ennemond Alexandre Petitot to start working on an already existing hunting chalet chalet.
In 1819 Maria Luigia d’Austria, new duchess of Parma and Piacenza, bought the villa and the adjacent estate  and had made important modifications according to the neoclassical style, which were entrusted to the architect  Nicola Bettoli. He added a long colonnade with the Casinetto, a building with clock and bell tower, at the centre which hosted the small court theatre. The duchess charged the gardener Carlo Barvitius, who used to work for the Augsburg court, to implant an elegant English style garden. The park, which was designed in order to fit harmoniously with the surrounding woods, includes numerous sinuous paths, such as the majestic cedar alley (Cedrus spp.) and numerous exotic species.
In 1870 Casino dei Boschi and the surrounding park, which were state property of the Italian kingdom, where given to the engineer Grattoni; after his death, in 1881, they were bought by the actual owners, the princes Carrega di Lucedio. The park, thanks to a convention with the owners, is accessible to the public, while the villa is not open.

This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)