Amidst violets and irises, where the scents tell the story of Italia
Places to rediscover: the struggles of the jasmine growers in Sicily, Calabria’s ‘golden’ bergamot, and innovation in lavender cultivation
Take a close look at that small watercolour housed at the Napoleonic Museum in Rome, which is, not coincidentally, entitled ‘Enigmatic Violets’: hidden amongst the stems, leaves and flowers is the profile of Napoleon – a coded message for his followers, who recognised the flower as the symbol of the emperor. The watercolour also features the profile of Marie Louise of Habsburg, Napoleon’s second wife and Duchess of Parma: it was in that Emilian city that her passion for the flower blossomed, and it remains one of Parma’s emblems to this day.
From Liguria to Piedmont: the realm of lavenderIn the city that Proust described as ‘mauve’ you can buy candied violets in the oldest patisseries, and follow their scent into the Color Viola shop, which, on Via Garibaldi, preserves the legacy of Ludovico Borsari’s historic workshop – the man who launched the famous fragrance in 1870. The story of the violets is just one of the many tales of flowers that define, express and recount the history of a region – its politics and its economy – stories that are sometimes famous and sometimes unknown, faded in memory or still capable of fuelling the future. Also in Parma, the history and passion for Maria Luigia’s violets can be explored in the elegant Glauco Lombardi Museum, whilst a contemporary interpretation can be experienced in the scent and colour of the ‘Ouverture’ cocktail, created by the talented bartender Alice Camellini at the Palazzo Utini hotel in Noceto, 15 kilometres from the city centre.
At the Bergamot Museum in Reggio Calabria
As well as remaining at the heart of famous fragrances, the aroma of Calabrian bergamot, grown along the coastline at the southern end of the region, is increasingly finding its way onto the palate too, as in the dishes created by chef Antonio Battaglia at the Altafiumara Resort in Villa San Giovanni and those by Felice Cuzzola at the Drogheria Culinaria restaurant in Reggio Calabria: here, the Bergamot Museum in Via dei Filippini, with its exhibits, hands-on workshops and festivals, is the second most visited attraction after the archaeological museum housing the Riace Bronzes.
It was around the mid-18th century that the decision was taken to focus on the production of this citrus fruit, which had been in great demand ever since by the most renowned perfume houses and which brought prosperity to the whole region, thanks in part to the invention, in 1844, of the ‘Calabrian machine’, capable of extracting the essence more effectively. A Experimental Station for the Citrus Essence and Derivatives Industry was also established for bergamot; it has been a centre of excellence in research in the sector for almost 110 years and today also houses a rich library.
