Continuing on exploring the grandeur of Turin. While I won’t get to all 14 of the residences from the Royal house of Savoy in the area, I did make out to one of the more opulent palaces and gardens.
It was a short train ride away from Porta Susa, the train station I find I keep coming back to. Luckily it’s clean, bright and easy to navigate.
The palace was designed and built starting in 1675, it had its grand heyday and then sadly fell into disrepair after being used by the military between 1851 and 1943.
According to Wikipedia: Overall the work on restoring the complex lasted eight years from 1999 to 2007, and was the largest restoration project in European history. The project involved some 700 experts and about 300 companies and contractors, involving a total of some 1,800 workers, with some 100 designers selected from 16 international tenders.
I think the results were well worth the effort.
The most spectacular moment is walking across the Galleria Grande
The gardens were also beautiful and well tended by a big team of gardeners.
There is also a small town that has built up around the castle over the centuries.
As the sun goes down Turin looks equally beautiful as the twilight arrives and buildings get lit up.
If you come to the city you will also no doubt see plenty of arcaded archways – apparently there are 18 kilometres worth and 12 of those are interconnected. It dates back to the 17th century when the Royals wanted to be able to be out in the city but still be protected from the elements.
