The Royal Villa of Monza is a neoclassical palace designed by Giuseppe Piermarini as a summer residence for the Habsburg-Lorraine family, later a royal residence under Napoleon and the Savoy, today a venue for exhibitions in the Parco di Monza.
What to see
It was commissioned by Empress Maria Theresa of Austria as a summer residence for the court of her son Ferdinand of Habsburg-Este, governor of Austrian Lombardy; Monza was chosen for the healthiness of the air and the pleasantness of the place, but also as a sign of the link between Vienna and Milan, on the road to the imperial capital. The commission was given in 1777 to the imperial architect Giuseppe Piermarini and completed in only three years, while the gardens took a few more; the archduke used it until the arrival of the Napoleonic armies in 1796. Piermarini took inspiration from Schönbrunn, whose inverted-U plan he reused, and from the Reggia di Caserta of his master Vanvitelli; the villa is vast, with seven hundred rooms over about twenty-two thousand square metres.
In 1805 the viceroy Eugenio di Beauharnais made it his main residence and the villa took the name Villa Reale; he had the court theatre built in the north wing and, until 1808, the vast enclosed park now known as the Parco di Monza, with a 14-kilometre boundary wall built from the demolition material of the ancient Visconti castle. After the return of the Austrians, in 1859 the villa passed to the House of Savoy and in 1868 was given by Vittorio Emanuele II to his son Umberto I on his marriage to Margherita di Savoia; in 1900 Umberto I was assassinated in Monza by Gaetano Bresci and the new king, Vittorio Emanuele III, no longer wished to use the villa, which he had closed. In 1934 most of it was donated to the municipalities of Monza and Milan; after years of decay, a major restoration was completed in 2014 and today one can visit the royal apartments of Umberto I and Margherita, which partly keep their original furnishings, as well as the state rooms; the complex includes the Royal Chapel, the Cavallerizza, the Rotonda dell'Appiani, the Teatrino di Corte and the Orangerie, with English-style gardens.
Visiting
The Villa Reale stands in the Parco di Monza; villa, gardens and park are managed by a consortium, the Consorzio Villa Reale e Parco di Monza, and one wing also houses the Nanni Valentini art high school. Hours, routes and tickets for the royal apartments and exhibitions should be checked on the official channels.
Our editors' tip
On the route look for the Belvedere, refurbished by the architect Michele De Lucchi, and the apartments of Umberto I and Margherita, which partly keep their original furnishings: two different eras in the same villa.
