The Royal Palace of Turin () is a historic palace of the

House of Savoy The House of Savoy (, ) is a royal house (formally a dynasty) of Franco-Italian origin that was established in 1003 in the historical region of Savoy, which was originally part of the Kingdom of Burgundy and now lies mostly within southeastern F ...

in the city of

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

Northern Italy Northern Italy (, , ) is a geographical and cultural region in the northern part of Italy. The Italian National Institute of Statistics defines the region as encompassing the four Northwest Italy, northwestern Regions of Italy, regions of Piedmo ...

. It was originally built in the 16th century and was later modernized by Christine Marie of France (1606–1663) in the 17th century, with designs by the Baroque architect Filippo Juvarra. The palace also includes the Palazzo Chiablese and the

Chapel of the Holy Shroud The Chapel of the Holy Shroud () is a Baroque style Roman Catholic chapel in Turin in northern Italy, constructed to house the Shroud of Turin (''Sindone di Torino''), a religious relic believed to be the burial shroud of Jesus of Nazareth. It i ...

, the latter of which was built to house the famous

Shroud of Turin The Shroud of Turin (), also known as the Holy Shroud (), is a length of linen cloth that bears a faint image of the front and back of a naked man. Because details of the image are consistent with depiction of Jesus, traditional depictions o ...

. In 1946, the building became the property of the state and was turned into a museum. In 1997, it was placed on the

UNESCO World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

list along with 13 other residences of the House of Savoy.

History

Construction of the palace was ordered by the

Regent In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...

Christine Marie in 1645. She wanted a new residence for the court after her son returned from the civil war. The chosen location was the previous Bishop's Palace, which had been built in the middle of the new capital of

Savoy Savoy (; )  is a cultural-historical region in the Western Alps. Situated on the cultural boundary between Occitania and Piedmont, the area extends from Lake Geneva in the north to the Dauphiné in the south and west and to the Aosta Vall ...

, during the reign of Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy (1528–1580). Its advantages included an open and sunny position, in addition to being close to other buildings where the court met. The Duke was able to monitor the two entrances of the city (the Palatine and the Pretoria gates) from the Bishop's Palace. The Bishop's Palace in Turin was later captured by the French in 1536 and served as a residence of the French

Viceroy A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the Anglo-Norman ''roy'' (Old Frenc ...

s of Savoy, who were appointed by

Francis I of France Francis I (; ; 12 September 1494 – 31 March 1547) was King of France from 1515 until his death in 1547. He was the son of Charles, Count of Angoulême, and Louise of Savoy. He succeeded his first cousin once removed and father-in-law Louis&nbs ...

. Opposite the Bishop's Palace was the ''Palazzo Vecchio'' or the ''Palazzo di San Giovanni''. This building, disparagingly known as ''Pasta con Tonno'' (English: Pasta with tuna) because of its architecture, was later replaced by the grand Ducal Palace. Thus the old Bishop's Palace became the seat of power and was greatly expanded by Emmanuel Philibert to house his ever-growing collection of art, animals, marbles, and furniture. Emmanuel Philibert died in Turin in August 1580 and the Savoyard throne was handed down to his son,

Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy Charles Emmanuel I (; 12 January 1562 – 26 July 1630), known as the Great, was the Duke of Savoy and ruler of the Savoyard states from 30 August 1580 until his death almost 50 years later in 1630, he was the longest-reigning Savoyard monarch ...

(1562–1630). In celebration of the joint marriages of his daughters

Princess Margaret Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon (Margaret Rose; 21 August 1930 – 9 February 2002) was the younger daughter of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. She was the younger sister and only sibling of Queen Elizabeth II. ...

and Princess Isabella in 1608, Charles Emmanuel I commissioned the construction of a ring of porches topped off by an open gallery. His son, the future

Victor Amadeus I, Duke of Savoy Victor Amadeus I (; 8 May 1587 – 7 October 1637) was the Duke of Savoy and ruler of the Savoyard states from 26 July 1630 until his death in 1637. He was also known as the ''Lion of Susa''. He was succeeded by two of his sons; Francis Hya ...

(1587–1637), entered into a prestigious marriage when he married the French Princess Christine Marie of France. Their marriage took place in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

at the

Louvre Palace The Louvre Palace (, ), often referred to simply as the Louvre, is an iconic French palace located on the Right Bank of the Seine in Paris, occupying a vast expanse of land between the Tuileries Gardens and the church of Saint-Germain l'Auxe ...

in 1619. Victor Amadeus I succeeded to the

Duchy of Savoy The Duchy of Savoy (; ) was a territorial entity of the Savoyard state that existed from 1416 until 1847 and was a possession of the House of Savoy. It was created when Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor, raised the County of Savoy into a duchy f ...

in 1630. He had previously spent his youth in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

at the court of his grandfather,

Philip II of Spain Philip II (21 May 152713 September 1598), sometimes known in Spain as Philip the Prudent (), was King of Spain from 1556, King of Portugal from 1580, and King of Naples and List of Sicilian monarchs, Sicily from 1554 until his death in 1598. He ...

. His wife set the tone for Victor Amadeus I's reign. Christine Marie had the court moved from the ducal palace in Turin to the Castello del Valentino, which at that time, was on the outskirts of the small capital. Many of Victor Amadeus I and Christine Marie's children were born at Valentino, including

Francis Hyacinth, Duke of Savoy Francis Hyacinth (; 14 September 1632 – 4 October 1638) was Duke of Savoy and ruler of the Savoyard states under the regency of his mother Christine Marie. Biography Born at the Castle of Valentino in Turin he was the eldest surviving son ...

and his successor Charles Emmanuel II, Duke of Savoy. Christine Marie became the regent of Savoy after the death of her husband in 1637 on behalf of her two sons, who succeeded as dukes of Savoy. From 1660 to 1663, Bartolomeo Caravoglia worked on the new decoration of the Royal Palace, where he produced some paintings for the Sala delle Principesse, based on an iconographic plan conceived by Emanuele Tesauro to celebrate the marriages of members of the House of Savoy to foreign consorts. During the reign of Victor Amadeus II, the Daniel gallery was created and named after Daniel Seiter, who painted the lavish murals seen there. Victor Amadeus II also had a collection of summer apartments built to look onto the court and a winter apartment overlooking the gardens. His wife was the niece of

Louis XIV LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...

, born

Anne Marie d'Orléans Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female name Anna (name), Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah (given name), Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie (given name), Annie a ...

Louis XV Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reached maturity (then defi ...

mother A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the case of ges ...

and

aunt An aunt is a woman who is a sibling of a parent or married to a sibling of a parent. Aunts who are related by birth are second-degree relatives. Alternate terms include auntie or aunty. Aunt, auntie, and aunty also may be titles bestowed b ...

were born in the palace in 1685 and 1688, respectively. The

, the current location of the

, was added to the structure in 1668–1694. The Dukes of Savoy became the Kings of Sicily in 1713, but they swapped it for the

Kingdom of Sardinia The Kingdom of Sardinia, also referred to as the Kingdom of Sardinia and Corsica among other names, was a State (polity), country in Southern Europe from the late 13th until the mid-19th century, and from 1297 to 1768 for the Corsican part of ...

and ruled from 1720 after the Treaty of The Hague. Anne Marie d'Orléans died at the palace in 1728. Victor Amadeus III married Maria Antonietta of Spain and the couple preferred to reside in the country in the Palazzina di caccia di Stupinigi. The Neoclassical style was introduced to the palace in the reign of Charles Emmanuel III. The palace was overshadowed by the Stupinigi building later on, when Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia married Maria Adelaide of Austria. The palace once again saw some life with the redecoration of some of its rooms. In 1946, the palace was claimed by the Italian Republic and turned into a "Museum of the Life and Works of the House of Savoy". Its rooms are decorated with rich

tapestries Tapestry is a form of textile art which was traditionally woven by hand on a loom. Normally it is used to create images rather than patterns. Tapestry is relatively fragile, and difficult to make, so most historical pieces are intended to han ...

and a collection of Chinese and Japanese vases. The Royal Armoury houses an extensive array of arms, including examples from the 16th and 17th centuries. The palace houses the ''Scala delle Forbici'', a staircase by Filippo Juvarra. The Chapel of the Holy Shroud, with its spiral dome, was built in the west wing of the palace, joining the

apse In architecture, an apse (: apses; from Latin , 'arch, vault'; from Ancient Greek , , 'arch'; sometimes written apsis; : apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical Vault (architecture), vault or semi-dome, also known as an ' ...

(a semicircular recess) of the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, to house the famous

, which belonged to the family from 1453 until 1946. The royal gates of the palace have a golden Medusa symbol embossed on them, in order to fend off intruders. Anna Caterina Gilli was active as a decorative painter at the palace.Profile of Anna Caterina Gilli
at the ''Dictionary of Pastellists Before 1800''.

References

External links

Residences of the Royal House of Savoy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Royal Palace Of Turin Palaces in Turin Residences of the Royal House of Savoy Historic house museums in Italy Museums in Turin National museums of Italy World Heritage Sites in Italy Baroque palaces in Italy Baroque architecture in Turin

History

See also

References

External links