Turin: the Royal Venaria

Once upon a time there were a king, his palace, his court. Our imaginary has always been inhabited, from the fairy tales they told us when we were children to representations on the big screens, to the cinema, especially abroad, the splendor of Versailles, the Habsburg Palace. For today’s spectator, court life evokes wigs, fans, hand kisses, reverences, minuets, in short, a rigid label. All this is the Royal Venaria of Turin. Both for its history, even if perhaps nothing of the so-called great historical events has ever happened here, and for its majesty it is a fundamental step for anyone arriving in the city of Turin. The best way to visit it? Take part in a Royal Venaria of Turin Guided Tour. The Royal Venaria attracts thousands of visitors every year from all over the world, curious to discover and learn about the history of this charming mansion and ancient Baroque residence belonging to the Savoy family, one of the most important and historic families of Turin and of Italy in general. Entering this residence will be like going back in time and living in the Royal era, where the monarchy and the most important families ruled the cities and states.

What will strike you and surprise you will not only be the wonderful view from the palace with its well-kept gardens, but the size of the structure itself. Declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997, the Royal Venaria is a masterpiece of Baroque architecture, its expression par excellence with majestic rooms, several exhibition centers for temporary exhibitions, important works of contemporary art and an art museum with numerous frescoes .

Things to know about Royal Venaria

The Royal Venaria, in all its splendor, looks like a concentrate of history, a piece of the past that landed as if by magic in the full twenty-first century. The Royal Venaria is one of the most important and fascinating residences in all of Italy, seat of the Absolute Monarchy, built between 1658 and 1663 at the behest of the Duke of Savoy, Carlo Emanuele II, who entrusted the project to the architect Amedeo di Castellamonte. The first impression when admiring the Royal Venaria will be to admire a building that seems to have crossed the centuries intact, as if time had never passed here. The Royal Venaria was born from the will of the Savoy family to create a dense network, in the hills and in the plains, of royal residences that were a tangible example of their luxury, grandeur and magnificence. The intent? Creating a crown of delights that surrounded Turin, which would incorporate it, and the Royal Venaris is one of them. Its name derives from the Latin “venor” which means hunting, an activity favored by the people of the court and by the king himself, so much so that the Savoy family wanted to build their palace as if it were the seat of their court and of hunting itself so much that, initially, it was called the Palace of Diana, the goddess of hunting and game. The complex offers a grandiose visual impact and includes the palace, the park, the hunting woods and an entire inhabited village. The residence was born together with the Italian gardens and a play of sculptures and then fountains, spectacular stairways and terraces on several levels. A real feast for the eyes, whose only protagonist is her, the Royal Venaria.