Reggia di Colorno

This ducal palace near Parma was a summer residence of the rulers of the Duchy of Parma and was once compared to Versailles for its scale and gardens. Its many rooms retain frescoed ceilings, a court chapel and a restored French-style formal garden. Later the building served as a psychiatric hospital, a history now interpreted for visitors. A distinctive detail is the reconstructed parterre garden, laid out from eighteenth-century plans, which stretches behind the palace toward the confluence of two rivers.