Tag: French aristocracy

The heyday of the French aristocracy never ceases to fascinate me as a writer and a lover of history.

I make it a point to visit as many venues associated with the French monarchs when I am in France but imagine my surprise when I came across an Empress in Italy! The remnant of the French aristocracy is tucked into the Riserva Palace on Strada Melloni, one of Parma’s quaint Porphyry-paved lanes. The building, which dates back to the rule of the House of Bourbon, hosted important guests of the court and served as a casino for nobles and courtiers during its heyday.

It now holds the central post office and a number of cultural organizations, including the Parma Literary Society, and the Glauco Lombardi Museum, which is devoted to the relationship between Emperor Napoleon I and his second wife Marie-Louise of Austria. The nobles are honored there because Napoleon saw to it that his wife was given the duchies of Parma, Piacenza, and Guastalla when he abdicated the throne in the Treaty of Fontainebleau, making their son her heir as a part of the bargain. I have a number of posts under this tag so I if you enjoy stories about the French aristocracy, I hope you’ll stop by and read a few.