The Castle of Moncalieri is a palace in

Moncalieri Moncalieri (; ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) of 56,134 inhabitants (31 January 2022) about directly south of downtown Turin (to whose Metropolitan City of Turin, Metropolitan City it belongs), in Piedmont, Italy. It is the most populous suburb ...

(

Metropolitan City of Turin The Metropolitan City of Turin (; Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ''sità metropolitan-a 'd Turin'') is a Metropolitan cities of Italy, metropolitan city in the Piedmont region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Turin. It replaced the prov ...

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 ...

, in

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 is one of the

Residences of the Royal House of Savoy The Residences of the Royal House of Savoy are a group of buildings in Turin and the Metropolitan City of Turin, in Piedmont, northern Italy. It was added to the UNESCO World Heritage Sites list in 1997. History The House of Savoy is an ancient ro ...

listed by

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

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

in 1997.

History

The first structure was a fortress built by Thomas I of Savoy around 1100 on a hill, to command the main southern access to

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 ...

. In the mid-15th century Yolanda of Valois, wife of Duke Amadeus IX, turned it into a pleasure residence. Architect

Carlo di Castellamonte Carlo Cognengo di Castellamonte (1560–1641) was an Italian architect, civil and military engineer, one of the main exponents of Piedmontese Baroque. Castellamonte was born in Turin. After his studies in Rome, he returned in Piedmont where was as ...

enlarged the construction substantially, and the interiors were redesigned by him and other local artists. The castle was the site of the marriage between Maria Vittoria Francesca of Savoy to the

Prince of Carignano The House of Savoy-Carignano (; ) originated as a cadet branch of the House of Savoy. It was founded by Thomas Francis, Prince of Carignano (1596–1656), an Italian military commander who was the fifth son of Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy. ...

. It was also the place where Maria Carolina of Savoy married

Anthony of Saxony Anthony of Saxony (; 27 December 1755 – 6 June 1836) was a King of Saxony from the House of Wettin. He became known as ''Anton der Gütige''Quinger p. 35 ("Anthony the Kind"). He was the fifth but third surviving son of Frederick Christian, E ...

by proxy in 1781. It was the scene of the death of Maria Antonietta of Spain in 1785; she was the wife of

Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia Victor Amadeus III (Vittorio Amedeo Maria; 26 June 1726 – 16 October 1796) was King of Sardinia and ruler of the Savoyard state, Savoyard states from 20 February 1773 to his death in 1796. Although he was politically conservative, he carrie ...

. Victor Amadeus later died there in 1796. The castle was used extensively by the Savoyards, and was the first castle occupied in 1798 by the

French army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (, , ), is the principal Army, land warfare force of France, and the largest component of the French Armed Forces; it is responsible to the Government of France, alongside the French Navy, Fren ...

, who retained it until 1814. Returned to

Victor Emmanuel I Victor Emmanuel I (; 24 July 1759 – 10 January 1824) was the Duke of Savoy, King of Sardinia and ruler of the Savoyard states from 4 June 1802 until his reign ended in 1821 upon abdication due to a liberal revolution. Shortly thereafter, hi ...

and later to his distant nephew

Charles Albert of Sardinia Charles Albert (; 2 October 1798 – 28 July 1849) was the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), King of Sardinia and ruler of the Savoyard state from 27 April 1831 until his abdication in 1849. His name is bound up with the first Italian constit ...

, Prince of Carignano, it became the residence of young family princes who studied here. King

Victor Emmanuel II Victor Emmanuel II (; full name: ''Vittorio Emanuele Maria Alberto Eugenio Ferdinando Tommaso di Savoia''; 14 March 1820 – 9 January 1878) was King of Sardinia (also informally known as Piedmont–Sardinia) from 23 March 1849 until 17 March ...

preferred it to the

Royal Palace of Turin The Royal Palace of Turin () is a historic palace of the House of Savoy in the city of Turin in Northern Italy. It was originally built in the 16th century and was later modernized by Christine Marie of France (1606–1663) in the 17th century, w ...

, and had numerous apartments furnished according to his tastes. In 1849, it was from this palace that emerged the famous Proclamation of Moncalieri, written by Massimo d'Azeglio and signed by the King. The palace was later used by the queen mothers and royal princesses. Since 1921 it has been the home of the 1st Battalion of the

Carabinieri The Carabinieri (, also , ; formally ''Arma dei Carabinieri'', "Arm of Carabineers"; previously ''Corpo dei Carabinieri Reali'', "Royal Carabineers Corps") are the national gendarmerie of Italy who primarily carry out domestic and foreign poli ...

, but the historical rooms can be freely visited. On April 5, 2008, a fire broke out in the castle, damaging one of the towers and the hall of the proclaim.

Overview

The current structure of the castle is in the shape of a horseshoe facing south, with four massive square towers at each angle. The side sections have five floors, brick walls and robust

buttress A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient (typically Gothic) buildings, as a means of providing support to act ...

es. Two other minor buildings parallel the side sections and create two courts. The southern façade has a ''

giardino all'italiana Giardino is Italian for ''garden''. It may refer to: * Giardino (album), 2011 album by Finnish krautrock band Circle A circle is a shape consisting of all point (geometry), points in a plane (mathematics), plane that are at a given distanc ...

'' and two small cylindrical towers, last remains of the 15th-century castle. The northern entrance has also a notable belvedere.

References

External links

* {{Authority control

Moncalieri

Buildings and structures in the Metropolitan City of Turin Historic house museums in Italy Museums in Piedmont Palaces in Piedmont Buildings and structures completed in 1100 1100 establishments in Europe 11th-century establishments in Italy Houses completed in the 17th century World Heritage Sites in Italy Medieval Italian architecture