Palazzo Reale

As you may have guessed even if you know no Italian that this is the Royal Palace. I’ve visited two fantastic residences of the Torino royalty, There is Stupinigi (you can see more here) which was “just” a hunting lodge then the most magnificent of all Reggia di Venaria (more info here) and finally I visited the Palazzo Reale in the very heart of Torino. June 24 is the saint’s day in Torino in this case San Giovanni Battista and the museums were free so Laura suggested a visit to the Palazzo Reale.

Seems pretty impressive with a grand piazza at the entrance. I was a bit disappointed although I found a lot of things interesting inside. First of all there is a magnificent courtyard paved as a mosaic.

The next spectacular thing was the chapel (Cappella della Sacra Sindone) inside that is actually a part of the palace but also adjoins a church. In 1997 there was a fire in this chapel that did tremendous damage. The restoration was long and difficult and costly ever undertaken.

Then there were a series of rooms which in general were not as magnificent as in the other royal residences even though they are quite impressive although I found them to be rather dark, dark walls, lots of heavy tapestries but perhaps because I had seen the Veneria, as I said I was a bit disappointed.

Ah but then came the armory. Maybe it’s just that I’m a guy but armaments always are fascinating. There was lots of armor, swords, daggers, bludgeons and then firearms (which at that point made most of the armor obsolete).

It is definitely worth a visit if you find yourself in Torino.

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