Ombre e luci della Venaria Reale

La Reggia di Venaria Reale is a royal residence that originated in 1659. It was designed by Amedeo di Castellamonte and then enlarged in the 1700s by several great architects of the Savoy court, including Michelangelo Garove, Filippo Juvarra and Benedetto Alfieri. The Venaria was destined to rank with great royal residences of Europe in its splendor and in its monumental size. There is the grandeur of its decorative projects that were commissioned for painters, sculptors, and stucco artists as well as the magnificence of its gardens and of its great park dedicated to hunting. The complex was damaged during the Napoleonic invasions and then was used as an army barracks in the first decades of the 1800s. This was when Venaria began its long period of decline. This was ended in 1961 when the Galleria Grande, the great hall, was renovated. The following 20 years witnessed other important renovation work. Another phase of cultural and institutional history and of improvement opened in 1995. This led to the drafting of a massive plan of restoration in 1998, targeting the complex for use as a museum and a tourist sight.
The Progetto La Venaria Reale is a project supported by regional, national, and European-Union funds.
Venaria, along with the entire system of the Savoy royal residences, was recognized as part of the UNESCO Heritage of Humanity in 1997. Today it hosts a constant flow of visitors.
This book outlines the history of Venaria with original texts and images. It points of the important phases of its transformation, decline, and crisis and describes the phases of the work that has brought to light one of the most important royal complexes in Europe.