Italy: Torino, Residences of the Royal House of Savoy

Turin’s skyline in the rain and fog

As we arrived in Torino Italy the weather turned cold and rainy. After a long stretch of excellent end of the season weather in the fall of 2018 there was now a wet cold in the air. Winter was making its entrance. Fortunately there’s a lot to see inside in Turin.

In and around the Torino are the former residences of the House of Savoy. In 1562, Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy moved his capital to Turin. With the move came a series of building projects employing the best architects available. The result is a collection lavishly constructed monumental stately homes designed to impress the public. They still do.

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Though the gardens and outside facades weren’t pleasant to view in the rain, the ornate interiors and floors filled with works of art hold their appeal in any weather. In truth we didn’t have enough time to see the insides of all of the Savoy residences let alone the outsides, so the weather didn’t limit the visit much. Indeed, there’s so much to see in Torino that our three-night stop wasn’t nearly adequate.

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UNESCO designates the “Residences of the Royal House of Savoy” as a heritage site. It is the 16^th World Heritage site that we’ve visited since our road began in the middle of September of 2018.

According to CNN, Turin is one of the “20 beautiful European cities with hardly any tourists”. It does seem under appreciated, though “hardly any”, even in October, is an overstatement.

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