Italy-Emilia-Romagna
Parma. Luca Pioli, owner of "Parma Color Viola" shop selling the Borsari 1870 collection. The perfume Violetta di Parma owes its very existence to Marie Louise and her love of this flower. She supported research by the monks at the Monastery of the Annunciata who obtained an essence from the flowers, identical to that of the violet. The first bottles of Violetta di Parma, produced thanks to the alchemic skills of the monks, were made solely for the personal use of the Duchess Maria Luigia. In 1870 Lodovico Borsari obtained from the monks the secret formula for the preparation of this perfume and started producing it for a wider audience. The perfume is still sold today under the brand Collezione Borsari.