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The Park of Villa Carcano, in Anzano del Parco, can be found at the foot of the Prealps on a hill overlooking the lake of Alserio and the nearby mountains – a wondrous view of the Resegone can be enjoyed right there. The Carcano family, from the early XVII century, developed an important agricultural activity on the very land that stretches well over the borders of today’s park.

At the end of the XVIII century, the Marquis Alessandro Carcano had a large neoclassical villa built here, designed by the architect Leopoldo Pollack. The latter also designed the huge park of about 100 acres, built in 1810 with a typical romantic landscape style.
Alongside the rural buildings, many furnishings were handcrafted for the occasion: they include a green theatre (the scenes, the scenography and other elements were entirely vegetal, while the stage consisted of a raised lawn), and an ice hut. A large pond with some islands was created as well inside the park, surrounded by avenues and several majestic trees.

THE TREES

Among the most interesting species, visitors can admire European horse-chestnuts (Aesculus hippocastanum), nettle trees (Celtis australis), Ginkgo biloba, Chamaecyparis spp., yews (Taxus), and cedars (Cedrus spp.). Inside the park, there are thickets of palms and bay laurel (laurus nobilis), a spectacular Fagus syvatica “Purpurea Tricolor”, incredibly tall nordmann firs (Abies nordmanniana), magnolias, and chestnuts (Castanea sativa – several centuries old).
An avenue lined with Carpinus Betulus takes the visitors to the main lake of the park, full of water lilies, and wild fauna, with two islets and a small promontory crossed by a tunnel.

This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)