Castello di Racconigi
A royal leisure palace and a natural oasis
The Royal retreat
The Castle of Racconigi, with its imposing architecture and English-style park of almost 200 hectares, was the favourite holiday resort of King Charles Albert of Savoy and his family.
The castle of the Princes of Carignano
The castle had been intended for recreation and hunting since the mid 17th century, when it became the property of the cadet branch of the Savoy-Carignano family. Commissioned by Prince Emmanuel Philibert, from 1676 the famous architect Guarino Guarini modified the ancient medieval building into a modern residence of delights. Of this first phase, the northern façade, which opens onto the park, is still visible today. The project was then completed in the mid-18th century by Giovanni Battista Borra, to whom we owe the monumental neoclassical entrance façade on the south side and the Hercules and Diana Rooms, whose rich stucco decorations celebrate the virtues of the princes and princesses of the House of Savoy.
The Royal Residence of King Carlo Alberto
By virtue of his membership of the Savoy-Carignano branch, Charles Albert was bound by emotional ties to the residence at Racconigi. In 1832, following his accession to the throne of Sardinia, he commissioned the royal architect Ernesto Melano to remodel the building, to which two side wings were added. Pelagio Palagi, who more than any other artist was able to interpret the cultural climate promoted by the king, was called in for the interior redesign. It is to Palagi that we owe the plans for redecoration of the rooms according to a new and eclectic taste. The fascination for exoticism and distant worlds, which had become established with the fashion for Chinese cabinets, was updated on Etruscan, Greek and Roman models, also driven by the rediscovery of Pompeii and Herculaneum and the necropolises of ancient Etruria. For the greenhouses and the farmhouse in the park, Palagi instead resorted to the neo-Gothic style that best suited the romantic garden designed by the Prussian landscape architect Xavier Kurten.
After the capital of the Kingdom of Italy moved from Turin to Rome (1871), the presence of sovereigns thinned out until the early 20th century, when King Victor Emmanuel III once again chose Racconigi as his holiday destination, promoting new technological and decorative modernisation campaigns.
In the 20th century
Regularly frequented by Umberto II until the years of the Second World War, the residence was purchased by the Italian State in 1980, becoming part of the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1997, together with the other Residences of the House of Savoy.
Today, the interiors offer visitors an up-close and intimate glimpse into the daily and private life of the royal family: from the bedrooms, kitchens and dressing rooms to the billiard room and dining room and the extraordinary Etruscan cabinet, where the king received ministers and ambassadors. In addition to the marvellous interiors, the vast park is one of the most significant examples in Europe of Romanticism's sensitivity to nature and the landscape, with centuries-old trees making up wooded areas, concealing paths and water areas.
- Early 15th century: pre-existence of a fortified building belonging to the Marquises of Saluzzo and later to the Acaja.
- 1604: Bernardino of Savoy Count of Racconigi is the owner of the castle.
- 1620: The castle is inherited by Tommaso of Savoy, first prince of Carignano.
- 1650: First transformation of the castle to a design by Carlo Morello.
- 1669: Ignazio Borgonio's project for castle and park.
- 1670: André Le Nôtre sends the project for the new French-style park.
- 1671: Carlo Emanuele Lanfranchi drew up a project to improve access to the castle. Work on the park proceeded.
- 1677: Emmanuel Philibert of Savoy Carignano commissions Guarino Guarini with a reshaping project for the construction of pavilions overlooking the park.
- 1755: Gio. Battista Borra builds the south façade with the grand staircase and entrance hall, decorated in stucco by Giuseppe Bolina.
- 1787: Giacomo Pregliasco intervenes on part of the park
- 1831-1849: Upon becoming king, Charles Albert radically transforms the complex: Xaver Kurten redesigns the park; Palagio Palagi transforms the interior of the castle and builds the Margarie, completed by Ernest Melano
- 1880: Giuseppe and Marcellino Roda reorganise the park.
- 1929: The castle and park become the private property of the Savoy family.
- 1980: The State buys the castle with the large park and begins its restoration and enhancement
- Today: The Castle is handed over to the Piedmont Regional Museums Directorate (Ministry of Culture)
Charles Albert of Savoy-Carignano
Prince of Carignano, King of Sardinia; 1789-1849
Son of Charles Emmanuel I of Savoy VI Prince of Carignano and Maria Christina of Saxe-Curland, he was educated by studying in Paris and Geneva. In 1814 Napoleon appointed him second lieutenant of the Dragoon Regiment and only after the fall of the French Empire did he return to Turin. In 1817, he married Maria Theresa of Habsburg Lorraine. In 1821, with the abdication of Victor Emmanuel I and Charles Felix's distance from Turin, he took over the regency but, following the granting of the Spanish constitution, was disavowed by the monarch. In 1831, on the death of Charles Felix, he inherited the kingdom, which he held until 1849. With his accession to the throne there was a transition to the Savoy Carignano branch. From this moment on, there was a change of course in sovereign interests in favour of the dynastic residences of Moncalieri, Racconigi, which was transformed into a 'Royal Holiday Resort', and other locations in the Cuneo area. In addition, venues linked to agricultural or breeding estates such as La Mandria and Pollenzo were upgraded and built ex novo. Together with the redefinition of the residential spaces of the court, the creation of institutions destined to mark cultural activities in the Savoy capital continued, after a phase initiated by Carlo Felice's predecessor. In this sense, it is worth mentioning the definitive installation of the Egyptian Museum in the rooms of the former College of the Nobles, considered a temporary venue by Charles Felix who had started the initiative by purchasing the collection of antiquities collected by Bernardino Drovetti in the 1920s. Similarly, it was only under Charles Albert that the Savoy Art Gallery, formerly the Royal Art Gallery, was solemnly inaugurated on the occasion of the sovereign's birthday (1832), although the project dates back to earlier years. All these institutions have in common an open approach to the museum, understood not only as a tool for the lectures given at the university, but as a modern place for collecting materials and works also aimed at a public that is not necessarily an insider.
