The Romantic Park of the Magnani-Rocca Foundation returns to its former splendour: it is the only historic Italian garden that preserves three centuries of landscape styles
Set in the Parma countryside, the Magnani-Rocca Foundation houses one of the most important art collections in Europe. The Villa is a treasure chest of wonders that holds masterpieces by Monet, Renoir, Cézanne, Goya, Titian, Van Dyck, de Chirico and a group of fifty works by Morandi. The Romantic Park surrounds the Villa dei Capolavori, where the spirit of Luigi Magnani lives on between art and nature.
What makes the Romantic Park unique in Italy is the layering of three centuries of garden art in a single place – a phenomenon rare even at European level. No other institution in Italy brings together an art collection of such international prestige in a park that harmonises three different garden models – Italian, English and contemporary – creating an aesthetic experience without equal. Luigi Magnani’s works of art kept in the Villa are echoed by the “living works of art” of the Romantic Park.
A record restoration: the figures of the project The great English garden has returned to its former splendour thanks to the most important landscape restoration in Emilia-Romagna, funded by the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR). The figures of the project:
- Over 900 trees belonging to 37 botanical species surveyed and cared for
- 3 monumental trees listed in the List of Monumental Trees of Italy: a marvellous Cedar of Lebanon (Cedrus Libani), a rare Sequoia (Sequoia sempervirens) and a spectacular Plane tree (Platanus hybrida)
- Over 8,000 new plants and over 100 new species introduced
- 12 hectares of park completely restored
- New botanical collections of Osmanthus, Viburnum, Cornus, Hydrangea, Magnolia and Iris
- Natural biofiltration and phytopurification system for the biolake
The contemporary garden: unique in Emilia-Romagna The boldest element of the restoration is the Contemporary Garden: the first example in Emilia-Romagna of the “New Perennial Movement”, following the principles of Piet Oudolf, the designer of the gardens of New York’s High Line and of the Hauser & Wirth museum in Somerset. A new way of thinking about the garden: freer, closer to nature, more attentive to time. Designed, yes, but without imposing a fixed form. The protagonists are perennial plants, which return every year, and grasses, with their lightness. Eight hundred square metres with over 6,500 plants arranged “in a matrix” for blooms from March to November, creating a modern “botanical collection” that translates Luigi Magnani’s vision into plant form.
Marianna Paulucci: the first Italian woman naturalist lives again in the park The park preserves the revolutionary legacy of Marianna Panciatichi Ximenes d’Aragona in Paulucci – the first Italian woman to establish herself in the exclusively male academic circles at international level. The historical research that preceded the restoration work contributed to the rediscovery of her extraordinary scientific work:
- 534 species of molluscs in the collection exhibited in Paris in 1878
- 4,153 specimens in her herbarium
- 1,260 stuffed birds in the ornithological collection
- One of the first photographic portraits of gardens in Italy: her “salted paper” photographs document the birth of the English garden. From the pages of the historical Paulucci catalogue the species are reborn today: the project has reintroduced plants that Marianna cultivated in the nineteenth century, recreating the dialogue between scientific research and landscape beauty.
Three centuries of garden history Many historic gardens can boast a historical layering, but walking along the paths of the Mamiano Park one admires a harmonious coexistence of the highest moments of Western landscape art. The park preserves the legacy of General Filippo Paulucci delle Roncole, who in 1819 created the first formal garden, later transformed by the romantic vision of his son Alessandro and his wife Marianna Panciatichi between 1850 and 1860, and completed by Luigi Magnani in the 1960s with a refined Italian garden of Renaissance inspiration. Today the new Contemporary Garden further enriches this synthesis, projecting it into the future.
Illustrious guests and cultural memory Giorgio Morandi, Eugenio Montale, Giuseppe Ungaretti, Alberto Moravia, Italo Calvino, Giacomo Manzù and Princess Margaret of England walked beneath these monumental trees. The park preserves the memory of these encounters, which made Mamiano a cosmopolitan cultural crossroads, where art, literature and nature merged in a unique creative dialogue. The majestic Cedar of Lebanon, 37 metres tall, and the centuries-old sequoia that witnessed their meetings are today protected monumental trees, living witnesses of an unrepeatable season of European culture.
A living laboratory of biodiversity The restored park is not just an open-air museum, but a living laboratory that hosts hundreds of plant species and works as a “stepping stone” in the provincial ecological network. The protected wildlife includes: peacocks, foxes, pheasants, hares, squirrels, toads, frogs and numerous species of woodpeckers. The new naturalistic biolake with its phytopurification system is one of the first Italian examples of sustainable water management in a historic park.
The project included the recovery and enhancement of the path system, with specific interventions in the different areas of the park – from the Italian garden to the contemporary garden, from the biolake to the wooded areas with monumental trees. In particular, ancient paths were reopened and secondary routes were created inside the woods as well, giving back to visitors areas that were previously inaccessible.
The whole intervention therefore aims at inclusive, participatory enjoyment, with concrete attention to the needs of everyone, including people with reduced mobility.
Innovation and tradition: a unique case in the Italian museum landscape The restoration of the Romantic Park, one of the most extraordinary historic gardens in Europe, was carried out according to the strict philological criteria of the Florence Charter for historic gardens, but it managed to integrate contemporary innovations consistent with the spirit of the Magnani collection. It demonstrates that respect for history can coexist with the contemporary, following the example of Luigi Magnani himself, who collected Goya alongside Burri.
A model for the future of cultural tourism With this restoration, the Magnani-Rocca Foundation positions itself among the excellences of European cultural tourism, offering an experience that goes beyond the traditional museum visit. The restored park represents an investment in the future: a model of how historic heritage can renew itself without betraying its identity, attracting lovers of historic gardens, families, scholars and cultural travellers from all over Europe. The new layout of the park also invites outdoor experiences of wellbeing and sociability, offering ideal spaces for families and moments of relaxation such as picnics amid art and nature.
List of tree and shrub species along the paths (listed by: Family – Genus – Species)
Salicaceae, Populus, nigra (var. italica). Aquifoliaceae, Ilex, aquifolium. Taxaceae, Taxus, baccata. Pinaceae, Cedrus, deodara. Hippocastanaceae, Aesculus, hippocastanum. Buxaceae, Buxus, sempervirens. Taxodiaceae, Sequoia, sempervirens. Taxodiaceae, Cryptomeria, japonica. Pinaceae, Cedrus, atlantica (var. glauca). Ulmaceae, Celtis, australis. Corylaceae, Corylus, avellana. Cornaceae, Cornus, sanguinea. Leguminosae, Cercis, siliquastrum. Ginkgoaceae, Ginkgo, biloba. Rosaceae, Prunus, cerasifera (var. pissardii). Betulaceae, Carpinus, betulus. Rosaceae, Crataegus, monogyna. Ulmaceae, Ulmus, laevis. Ulmaceae, Ulmus, minor. Juglandaceae, Juglans, nigra. Magnoliaceae, Magnolia, grandiflora. Aceraceae, Acer, pseudoplatanus. Berberidaceae, Mahonia, aquifolium. Oleaceae, Fraxinus, excelsior. Oleaceae, Fraxinus, ornus. Leguminosae, Gleditsia, triacanthos. Oleaceae, Osmanthus, heterophyllus. Magnoliaceae, Magnolia, soulangiana. Caprifoliaceae, Sambucus, nigra. Platanaceae, Platanus, hybrida. Rosaceae, Prunus, serrulata (var. kanzan). Celastraceae, Euonymus, japonicus. Pinaceae, Pinus, sylvestris. Bignoniaceae, Catalpa, bignonioides. Pinaceae, Picea, abies.