One of the largest walled parks in Europe
The Villa Reale of Monza was built between 1777 and 1780 by the architect Giuseppe Piermarini, the designer of La Scala, as the summer residence of Archduke Ferdinand of Habsburg, governor of Lombardy. It later became the residence of Napoleon's viceroy Eugène de Beauharnais and then of the Savoy kings; King Umberto I loved it, and it was in Monza that he was assassinated in 1900.
The neoclassical palace, restored and reopened, has royal apartments with furniture and decorations of the nineteenth century and a beautiful Rose Garden. Behind it stretches the Parco di Monza, created by Napoleon in 1805: with about 690 hectares enclosed by a wall 14 kilometres long, it is one of the largest walled parks in Europe. It contains woods, meadows, farmhouses, villas, a river, the Lambro, an old mill, a golf course and the famous Autodromo. On weekends it is a favourite destination for the people of Monza and Milan for walks, cycling and picnics.
Tip: the park can be explored by bicycle; the Villa Reale is about twenty minutes by train from Milan, followed by a walk or a bus.
Where it is
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