About 3km to the north of the city centre is Palermo's biggest park, the Parco della Favorita. Ferdinand purchased the land in 1799 and commissioned the original layout, and he lived in the extraordinary Chinese pagoda palace, the Palazzina Cinese, with his wife during his exile from Naples. Originally built as Ferdinand's hunting lodge by Venanzio Marvuglia, the palazzina is an odd but charming mixture of Chinese and neoclassical styles (if you can imagine such a thing).