Palazzo del Giardino
The Palazzo del Giardino (Garden Palace) or Palazzo Ducale del Giardino (Ducal Garden Palace) is a historic palace in the Parco Ducale in Parma. It is not to be confused with the official Parma residence of Marie Louise, Duchess of Parma between Palazzo della Pilotta and Palazzo della Provincia in what is now known as piazzale della Pace - she also lived at the Ducal Palace of Colorno and in the Casino dei Boschi in Sala Baganza. The main Ducal Palace in Parma, the Palazzo della Pilotta and the Reinach Theater were all destroyed in an early morning air raid on 13 May 1944, carried out by the 465th Heavy Bombardment Group of the US Airforce, 781st Squadron, which dropped 9 GP bombs on the city centre.[1] [2]
Presently, the Palazzo del Giardino houses Parma's Provincial Carabinieri Command and the Carbinieri's Reparto investigazioni scientifiche (RIS). It is due to house a local office for the European Food Safety Authority.
On the ground floor are works by the early 17th-century artist Cesare Baglioni. A monumental 17th-century staircase leads to a large salone on the first floor, named the Sala degli Uccelli after its stucco and fresco decoration of 224 species of birds by Benigno Bossi. Other rooms open off this salone - they house various frescoes and stucco-work from the Farnese era: