ROYAL RESIDENCES
The itinerary of Royal Residences makes up a collection of extraordinary historical-artistic and environmental interest; five of these monuments were declared a Heritage of Humanity in 1997 by UNESCO.
The residences outside the city, which were built between the l6th and the 17th centuries and connected to it by long, straight, tree-lined avenues, made up a Baroque complex that gave distinction and prestige to the Dukes of Savoy, projected by now toward a European dimension. At the same time, the marvellous parks around the residences were actual locations of amusement and leisure during the Court’s stay.
The city’s Royal Palace, the symbol of Savoy absolutism, was the ideal perspective point of the “Crown”, composed of the Castles of Rivoli, Moncalieri and Valentino, of the Royal Palace of Venaria Reale and the Vigna on the hills (later to become the Villa della Regina); the palaces of Mirafiori, Millefonti, and Regio Parco, which have unfortunately been lost; and later, the Hunting Lodge of Stupinigi, commissioned by Vittorio Amedeo lI, future King of Sardinia, Starting from the mid-l8th century, new demands of an economic nature determined the transformation of the Savoy’s possessions from exclusive “places of delight”, in which to go hunting, into operative agricultural or farming establishments: such as the residences of Racconigi, Pollenzo, Govone and La Mandria. These have nevertheless kept their characteristics of “royal vacation residences”.

Palazzo Reale Begun in 1646 by the royal mother Cristina of France, wife of Duke Vittorio Amedeo I, Palazzo Reale was the sumptuous official residence of the Dukes and, later, of the House of Savoy for over two centuries. The frescoed and elaborately carved ceilings, the paintings, precious tapestries, inlaid furniture and porcelain found in the reception rooms and the private apartments, all document the transformation in taste that took place between the 17th and the 19th centuries under the direction of the court architects, from Juvarra to Alfieri to Palagi. 17th-century statues decorate the fountain and the flower-beds in the gardens, designed by the famous French architect Le Nôtre, who also designed the gardens of Versailles.