We already talked about this park in a post of September, but now we would like to better present you this nature reserve placed at about 8.5 ml from Parma city center, at the first Apennine slopes.
Situated between the Taro and the Baganza creeks and first nature park in Emilia, it was instituted in 1982 and covers about 1270 acres.
The nature lovers can visit the park by foot or bike along several paths: about a half of the area is covered by woods and if you are lucky you could meet a deer, a squirrel or a fox and listen to the rhythmic hammering of the redheaded woodpecker.

And within a few miles you can visit several places as for example the Rocca Sanvitale at Sala Baganza.

A bit of history:
The duke of Parma, Ranuccio I Farnese, confiscated the woods to the previous owners, the counts Sanvitale, accusing them to be implicated in the lords’ plot of 1612.
Repeatedly split and alienated, the woods remained a game reserve for the Farnese and form 1731 of the Bourbons.
In 1819 the duchess Maria Theresa purchased the woods with several buildings.
In 1820 the duchess acquired also the Ferlaro estate and instructed the gardener Carlo Barvitius to realize an immense English park with enormous plants coming from the Apennines, the Trentino Alps and from exotic countries.
In 1847 at duchess’s death the area passed to the Bourbons and, after the Italian unification, to the Savoy family.
It was partially given to the engineer Severino Grattoni, and then his widow in 1881 gave the property to the princes of Carrega. They divided, rented or sold part of the property which began to decay. A further stroke was caused by a strong earthquake in 1983.
The princes of Carrega yielded the Casinetto to the Consorzio Parco Naturale Regionale dei Boschi di Carrega which acquired also the surrounding park and opened the estate to the public.
Following the results of the “I luoghi del cuore” survey promoted by the FAI Fondo Ambiente Italiano in 2014, now the owners seem to be about to hand over the Casinetto for a complete restoration.

For more info:
…dite la vostra: Parco Regionale dei Boschi di Carrega
wikipedia: Casino dei Boschi
wikipedia: Parco naturale regionale dei Boschi di Carrega
www.parks.it parco boschi carrega (EN)
ambiente.regione.emilia-romagna.it