Moncalieri castle is of medieval origin, remodelled many times, and stands in the historic centre of Moncalieri, in the metropolitan city of Turin. It was one of the royal residences of the House of Savoy and since 1997 has been part, with other Savoy residences, of the UNESCO World Heritage List. Inside are a Carabinieri barracks and the museum of the Ministry of Culture.
What to see
The original building, defensive in nature, stood in a commanding position on a hill: until the thirteenth century there was a stronghold there. The present building dates from the second half of the fifteenth century, when Moncalieri was chosen as the residence of Duchess Yolande of Valois, who signed there the Treaty of Moncalieri with the Duke of Burgundy Charles the Bold and the Duke of Milan Galeazzo Maria Sforza, thus regaining the Duchy of Savoy. After the peace of Cateau-Cambrésis, in 1559, the old castle was turned into a royal residence: its lavishly furnished rooms hosted continual festivities and the castle was also called a «place of delights». In the seventeenth century it was enlarged, beginning in 1610 at the wish of Duke Charles Emmanuel I; the work continued under Victor Amadeus I and above all under Madama Reale Christine of France, lasted about sixty years and was directed by architects such as Amedeo di Castellamonte, Andrea Costaguta and Carlo Morello, with enlargements also of the upper park, gardens and spectacular fountain displays. In 1798 French soldiers occupied it and turned it into a prison and then a hospital, a role it had again during the Second World War. With the Restoration it returned to the Savoys: in 1817 Victor Emmanuel I ordered restorations and new buildings, among them the majestic three-flight staircase in Carrara marble leading to the «Queen's Hall» and the «Cavallerizza»; and in 1849 the famous Proclamation of Moncalieri, written by Massimo d'Azeglio and signed by the king, came out of this castle.
In the second half of the nineteenth century Victor Emmanuel II and Queen Maria Adelaide had their apartments refashioned; in the hillside park the «Torre del Roccolo» was built, together with a great cistern in the middle of the Piazza d'Armi, and the eighteenth-century «Nymphaeum» was enlarged. The last Savoys to live in the castle were Princess Maria Clotilde, called the «Saint of Moncalieri», wife of Prince Napoléon Jérôme Bonaparte, and her daughter Maria Letizia Bonaparte, Duchess of Aosta, who stayed until her death on 25 October 1926. The reception room, on the ground floor, was part of her apartment and partly keeps the eighteenth-century decoration: the vault frescoed in grisaille in a neoclassical taste, the fireplace and the overdoors with «Vases of Flowers» by Michele Antonio Rapous; among the paintings is a «Female Nude» by Francesco Romero. The present structure is horseshoe-shaped, facing south, with four massive square towers at the corners; on the south side there is an Italian garden and two small cylindrical towers, the last remains of the fifteenth-century castle, while the north entrance has a notable belvedere.
Visiting
The royal apartments were restored and opened to the public in 1991. On 5 April 2008 a fire damaged the south-east tower and the room where the Proclamation of Moncalieri was signed, and the visitor route had to close; since 11 November 2017, with the restorations finished, the castle can be visited again. Hours and visiting arrangements should be checked.
Our editors' tip
The «Rose Garden», independent of the Residence although inside the perimeter walls, belongs to the State but is entrusted to the Comune of Moncalieri, which also owns the large park behind.
