The Villa Pallavicino Zoological Park
Villa Pallavicino was a private residence in 1855, when it was purchased by Ruggero Bonghi, statesman and writer. In 1862 the ownership was transferred to the noble Genoese Pallavicino family who enlarged the estate, transforming it into a nineteenth-century neoclassical style villa. In 1956 the Pallavicino family decided to transform their marvellous garden into a wildlife museum open to the public. In July 2017, the Pallavicino Park became part of the Borromeo tourist circuit. The trees are the greatest feature of this park: centuries old chestnut trees and liriodendrons, among the oldest in Italy, red beeches, maples, larches, the majestic ginko biloba, tall sequoias and fragrant magnolias. A real attraction is the imposing cedar of Lebanon, in the natural amphitheatre outside the villa. The Parco Pallavicino is an oasis of peace for visitors, but above all for the 50 species of mammals and birds that live here, together with a number of wild specimens, which have been rescued by the wildlife protection wardens and would not survive if released into the wild, such as the eagle and the three-legged fox.