Natural Park of Stupinigi
Hunting Palace
Stupinigi
belonged originally to the Savoia d'Acaja and was given to Emanuele Filiberto
in 1563, when he moved the capital of the dukedom from Chambéry to
Turin. The whole estate was given to the Order of Saint Maurice and Lazarus
as a gift by Emanuele Filiberto.
In 1729 Vittorio Amedeo II, Grand Master of the Mauritian Order entrusted
Filippo Juvarra the contruction of the Hunting palace.
Works were carried on quickly
and, two years later, the mansion had its first hunt.
The ingenious design by Juvarra was based on a star shape. A Saint Andrew's
cross is formed by four arms starting from the large elliptic central room.
Juvarra called the best painters, most of which from Venice, and the best
artisans for the internal decoration.
In the following years the construction works were directed by Prinotto,
followed by Birago di Borgaro and finally Ludovico Antonio Bo. In those
days the architectural complex was enlarged towards Turin and both the garden
and the wood began to take their present shape. In 1766 the central dome
over the grandiose room was crowned by the emblematic bronze deer by Ladetto.
In 1832 the palace became a property of the royal family again. It was ceded
to the State in 1919 and in 1925 it was given back to the Mauritian Order
with all the surrounding properties.
The palace is now surrounded by a wonderful park and is the seat of the
Museum of Art and Furnishing,
including collections of furniture, paintings and high quality objects coming
from the palace and other royal mansions.
Through the courtyard you get into a hall leading to the Portrait Gallery
and to the library. The most interesting venues are the eastern apartment,
the apartment of the king, the room of the Equerries and above all the elliptic
room containing a series of frescoes known as the Triumph of Diana by Giuseppe
and Domenico Valeriani and the huge chandelier in bronze and crystal of
1773.
The Natural Park was established in 1991 and extends over 1732 hectares.
It includes agricultural areas and woods. Woods originally consisted of
oaks and hornbeams. Other species like false acacia, black walnut-tree,
plane-tree, strobile pine and poplars were introduced later.
The protagonist of the park, the deer, disappeared about one century ago.
The area is populated by squirrels, dormice, foxes, weasels, stone martens,
hares, wild rabbits and many species of nest-building birds.
Tourist information:
Palazzina di caccia – P.zza Principe Amedeo, 7 – 10040 Stupinigi
TO – Tel. 011/3581220.
Winter visiting hours:
9.00-12.30 / 14.00-17.00 closed on Mondays
Summer visiting hours:
9.30-12.30/14.00-18.00 closed on Mondays
How to get there:
from Turin SS 23 to the south towards Pinerolo
Or Torino-Milano and Savona-Piacenza highways, Stupinigi exit, the palace
is at 2 km from the highway.
Best period for a visit: all year long.
