The Parade Quarter

Fresco with colonnade of one of the walls of the waiters' lounge

 

A visit to the Grand Parade Apartments includes the Throne Room, the room used by the sovereign to receive deputations and perform official functions as head of state. This wing of the Palazzo is the result of the alterations made to the former Chamber of the Elders which were begun during the reign of Elisa Baciocchi Bonaparte and completed for Maria Luisa Bourbon by the Court Architect Lorenzo Nottolini.
The General Inventory of Silverware, Furniture and Furnishings in the Royal Palace in Lucca, preserved in the State Archive in Lucca, testifies to the sumptuousness of the Parade Quarters during the time of the Bourbon Duchy. This document was essential as the basis for the choices made during the restoration works of 1998-2000 which recreated the Throne Room as it was at the time of Maria Luisa Bourbon’s death in 1824.
You enter the Grand Parade Apartments from the Cortile degli Svizzeri and the Palazzo Staircase. The visit takes you to the Footmen’s Room, the Ammannati Loggia, the Guard Room, the Chamberlains’ Room, the Throne Room, the Ministers’ Room and the Sovereign’s Study.

 

Parade Quarter
Entrance Parade Quarter