What is Venaria Reale known for?

UNESCO baroque palace, 80,000 square meters of floors and 60 hectares of gardens, the largest of the Savoy Residences. Eight-year project from 1999 to 2007, 1,800 operators on site, the largest cultural restoration in European Union history. Three thousand fenced hectares of former Savoy hunting reserve, the country park that extends north from the palace gardens.

Where is Venaria Reale?

Venaria Reale is a comune in the province of Torino, Piedmont region of Italy, about 14 kilometers from Torino.

Piedmont · Torino

Venaria Reale

A Savoy town on the edge of Torino, built around the Reggia di Venaria, a UNESCO baroque palace with sixty hectares of gardens.

14 km / 9 mi

Nearest hub (Torino)

32,288

Population

Apr–Oct

Best time to visit

Recognised as

UNESCO

Why come

Venaria Reale sitsfifteen kilometers northwest of Torino, on the lowland that ran into the Savoy hunting forests of the Mandria. The modern name comes from the Latin ars venatoria, hunting. In 1658 Duke Carlo Emanuele II commissioned court architect Amedeo di Castellamonte to build a residence for hunting parties and court leisure, with a coordinated plan for palace, park, hunting wood and adjoining village. In 1716 Filippo Juvarra enlarged the complex with the Galleria Grande, the Cappella di Sant'Uberto, the Citroniera and the Scuderia, lifting the Reggia to one of the major baroque set pieces of Europe. The Savoy Residences entered the UNESCO list in 1997. After two centuries as a military barracks the palace was restored across eight years from 1999 to 2007, in the largest cultural restoration project in European Union history, with 1,800 operators on site. The Reggia now opens eighty thousand square meters of floor surface and sixty hectares of gardens, with the three thousand fenced hectares of the Parco della Mandria beyond.

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Gallery

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Known for

Reggia di Venaria
UNESCO baroque palace begun in 1658 by Amedeo di Castellamonte for Duke Carlo Emanuele II, with 80,000 m² of floors and 60 hectares of gardens.
Galleria Grande
Filippo Juvarra's barrel-vaulted gallery of 1716, one of the longest enfilades of baroque court architecture in Europe.
Cappella di Sant'Uberto
Royal chapel designed by Juvarra inside the palace, completed in the second decade of the eighteenth century for the hunting court.
Giardini della Reggia
Sixty hectares of restored gardens combining baroque parterres, the Fountain of Hercules and the Renaissance-style Potager Royal.
Parco Naturale La Mandria
Three thousand fenced hectares of former Savoy hunting reserve, with the Castello della Mandria of King Vittorio Emanuele II inside.

When to visit

Best months · Apr–Oct

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

April through June is the best window for the gardens of the Reggia and the long walks through the Parco della Mandria, with parterres in full bloom and the hunting park green. September and October bring cooler air over the gardens and the start of the autumn exhibition season inside the Galleria Grande. July and August touch the mid-thirties on the Torino plain; the palace interiors stay cool, the Citroniera and the chapel hold the heat at bay, but the gardens flatten in midday glare. November through March is quiet. Fog settles over the Stura plain, the gardens close earlier, and the indoor route through the Reggia becomes the main draw.