VENARIA REALE

The Venaria Reale represents the magnificence of royal architecture between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. In the middle of the seventeenth century Carlo Emanuele II of Savoy wanted to build a ''pleasure and hunting'' lodge and commissioned the design from the architect Amedeo from Castellamonte, who drew up a whole country town, a royal palace, the gardens and a wood.

The main building was Diana's Royal Palace, constructed between 1660 and 1671 and extended after 1716 by the famous Filippo Juvarra, who designed the Great Gallery, Saint Hubert's Chapel, the Lemon-House and the Great Stables. The gardens were transformed in time, passing from Italian style to French, covering 125 hectares with parterres, avenues, pergolas, fish ponds. Declared to be a World Heritage Site by Unesco, the Venaria was extensively restored from 1997. The planting today shows the eighteenth century proportions, keeps the remains of the seventeenth century elements such as the Temple of Diana, Hercules' Fountain or the grottoes and includes contemporary installations. There is a Flower Garden behind the Royal Palace and, beyond the remains of Hercules' Fountain, the view extends to the edge of the park and the foundations of Diana's Temple. The Garden of the Pergolas is bordered by a pergola of “Albéric Barbier” roses. Two allées, Royal and Terrace, lead towards the mountains lined with oaks and limes. Walls with grottoes are to be found in the Lower Park facing towards the modern areas with installations by the sculptor Giuseppe Penone, including the gigantic Cedar trunk in bronze or the ''Garden of Fluid Sculptures''. The Great Fishpond scenically concludes this area.