The Borgo Medioevale ( English: "Medieval Village") is an open air museum and reconstructed

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

village and

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

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 ...

, Italy. It is located in the Parco del Valentino (Valentino Park) on the riverbank of the

Po river The Po ( , ) is the longest river in Italy. It flows eastward across northern Italy, starting from the Cottian Alps. The river's length is , or if the Maira (river), Maira, a right bank tributary, is included. The headwaters of the Po are forme ...

. It was built for the 1884 Italian general exposition and it was constructed by replicating and mimicking late-

medieval architecture Medieval architecture was the architecture, art and science of designing and constructing buildings in the Middle Ages. The major styles of the period included pre-Romanesque, Romanesque architecture, Romanesque, and Gothic architecture, Gothic. In ...

of the

Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...

region. The reconstructed architecture, decorations, and landscaping followed strict criteria of faithfulness to historical models. Over 40 sites (including castles, villages, and churches) all across

and

Aosta Valley The Aosta Valley ( ; ; ; or ), officially the Autonomous Region of Aosta Valley, is a mountainous Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region in northwestern Italy. It is bordered by Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Fr ...

were used as models and many intellectuals, historians, artists and technicians took part in the project. Among the structures that served as models are Fénis Castle, Issogne Castle, Verrès Castle, and Ivrea Castle.

Gallery

File:Borgomedievale sul PO.jpg, The Borgo in Valentino Park File:Borgo Medievale in primavera, Torino.jpg, The Borgo on the river File:Torino Borgo medievale 2.jpg, The Castle, inspired mostly by those Fénis, Verrès, Montaldo Dora and Ivrea File:Borgo medievale (2).jpg, The drawbridge (inspired by the tower at Oglianico) File:0012722852 Borgo medioevale di Torino.jpg, Pomegranate fountain (copy of the one at the castle of Issogne) File:Borgo Medievale, Torino.jpg, Riverwalk (with the tower from

Avigliana Avigliana (; ; ) is a town and (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Turin in the Piedmont region of Italy, with 12,129 inhabitants as of 1 January 2023. It lies about west of Turin in the Susa valley, on the motorway going from Turin to ...

) File:Corte interna al borgo.JPG, Courtyard (copy of the one in Avigliana) File:Torino Borgo medievale Rocca Interno 16.jpg, Interior room in the castle File:Le bourg médiéval (Turin) (2874282733).jpg, Main street and church (inspired by the ones in

Saluzzo Saluzzo (; ) is a town and former principality in the province of Cuneo, in the Piedmont region, Italy. The city of Saluzzo is built on a hill overlooking a vast, well-cultivated plain. Iron, lead, silver, marble, slate etc. are found in the su ...

and Ciriè)

References

{{Reflist Museums in Turin Buildings and structures in Turin

Gallery

Further reading

References