Castello di Agliè
A romantic triumph of elegance
An understatedley charming castle
With more than three hundred rooms, a magnificent park of centuries-old trees, and an incredible art collection ranging from archaeological finds to oriental artefacts, the Castle of Agliè is a must-see for discovering the beauty around Turin and the noble past of the House of Savoy.
The 17th century layout
The residence was built in the 1740s on the remains of an ancient 12th-century castle by Count Filippo San Martino d'Agliè, a refined intellectual, leading politician and lover of Christine of France.
To this phase belongs the spectacular Hall of Honour, entirely frescoed by Giovanni Paolo Recchi and his workshop to celebrate the medieval events of the first king of Italy, Arduino d'Ivrea, from whom the San Martino family descended.
Transformation into a Royal residence
In 1764 the castle was purchased by King Charles Emmanuel III of Savoy for his son Benedetto Maurizio, Duke of Chiablese. Over the course of about a decade, architect Ignazio Birago of Borgaro redesigned the entire complex, integrating it harmoniously with the village of Agliè. The square and the parish church were built ex novo, in turn connected to the castle by a covered gallery with two floors above ground that still exists today. Inside the residence, the Hall of Hunting, a large entrance hall and the castle's visiting card, decorated in 1770 with sober stucco trophies by Giuseppe Bolina, marks an update in taste in a neoclassical key.
Major transformations also affected the immense park, which was rearranged in the French manner by Michel Benard, director of the Royal Gardens, with the creation of a circular lake at the end of the park, in line with the longitudinal axis. Not to be missed is the scenic Fountain of Rivers located towards the south façade and embellished with sculptural groups by the Collino brothers.
During the Napoleonic period, the castle was used as a beggars' shelter. Returning to the Savoys in 1823, it was modernised by Michele Broda on behalf of King Charles Felix and his wife Maria Cristina of Bourbon. The couple were responsible for the considerable enrichment of the collections. The queen's passion for antiquities and archaeology, which had led to important excavations on her properties in Lazio, can be seen in the numerous finds preserved in Agliè, particularly in the Tuscolana Room. Between 1838 and 1840, modifications were also made to the park by the landscape architect Xavier Kurten, in accordance with the new fashion for romantic gardens.
The residence of the Dukes of Genoa
On Maria Cristina's death, the castle was inherited by Ferdinand of Savoy, Duke of Genoa. The diplomatic trip to Asia by Ferdinand's son, Duke Tomaso, further increased the collections with an important collection of ethnographic and oriental art objects.
During the years of the First World War, Tomaso's wife, Isabella of Bavaria, decided to establish a small hospital of thirteen rooms for the convalescence of war officers in the oldest part of the castle, facing the 17th-century Italian-style garden.
Sold to the State in 1939, the castle was destined to become a museum of itself and today preserves its treasures and all its furnishings intact.
- From the 12th century: A fortified structure is documented on the site of the present castle.
- 1642-1657: Filippo d'Agliè entrusts the transformation into an imposing Baroque palace probably to Amedeo of Castellamonte.
- 1763: Charles Emmanuel III buys the castle as an appanage for his son Benedetto Maria Maurizio Duke of Chiablese.
- 1764: Ignazio Birago of Borgaro transformed it into a palace-villa suited to the new needs of the court.
- 1765-1771: Design of the furnishings. Filippo Valentino Benard designed the park.
- 1799-1815: the French government turns the castle into a shelter: the park is sold to private owners.
- 1815: The castle returns to the hands of Marianne, widow of the Duke of Chiablese.v1823: Marianne of Chiablese bequeathed the castle to King Carlo Felice, who entrusts its restoration to Michele Borda.
- 1831-1849: The castle is the residence of Maria Christina of the Two Sicilies, widow of Carlo Felice
- 1849: The castle passes to Ferdinand Duke of Genoa and then to his descendants of the Savoy-Genoa branch
- 1881: The façade is completed, the roofs and the flowerbed in front of the castle are laid out.
- 1939: The castle is purchased by the State.v1955-1979: Restoration directed by the Department of Fine Arts.
- 1982: Reopening of the castle and park to the public
- Today: The Castle is being handed over to the Piedmont Regional Museums Directorate (Ministry of Culture)
Maria Christina of Bourbon-Naples 1779-1849
Daughter of Ferdinand IV of Bourbon King of Naples and Sicily and Maria Carolina of Habsburg Lorraine.
In 1798 he left the city of Naples with his family to move to Palermo. In 1807 she married her cousin Charles Felix of Savoy; in the same year she left Sicily for Sardinia where the Savoy family were in exile. In 1817, together with her husband, she returned to Turin. In 1831, after the death of Carlo Felice, she stayed with the family in Naples and from 1832, in Turin, led a withdrawn life. From 1836 onwards, she alternated her stays in Turin with those at the castles of Govone and Agliè, for the decoration of which she commissioned Piedmontese and Ligurian painters working in Rome, where she habitually resided until 1843. Having returned to Piedmont, with the exception of the winter periods that she spent in Liguria, she was one of the most important figures in the history of Agliè Castle, where she worked on the reorganisation of spaces and the refurbishment of the royal apartment. She patronised several commissions of paintings for well-known authors: among others, D'Azeglio and Gonin. On her death, the castle became the property of King Charles Albert's second son, Ferdinand of Savoy, Duke of Genoa.
