PARMA VIOLET

Marie Louise, daughter of the emperor of Austria and wife of Napoleon, was used to an imperial dimension, but she also got quickly used to the life in the dukedom assigned her after the Congress of Vienna. After all, she enjoyed a simple life and was very devoted to her dukedom and her people.

Therefore, Parmesan people did not hesitate to show their affection too. Among the different passions of the Duchess, what she liked the most was certainly botany, and, in particular, Parma violet, a flower that she already loved in Paris due to its colour and fragrance. She loved it at the point that she substituted her signature in letters with a violet, she wanted her butlers to be dressed in a violet livery, she commissioned the flower to be portrayed in crockery and on dresses, including her wedding dress.

As a gesture of friendship, the monks of the Annunciata monastery managed to extract the essence from the flower and started developing an exclusive fragrance for Marie Louise. Just think that every year Parmesan citizens place a bunch of violets on the grave of the Duchess in Vienna as to show their gratitude for everything she has done for Parma