Villa della Regina

In April, I got the chance to visit one of Torino’s most beautiful villas. Villa della Regina is one of the Savoy’s family residence. Built in the 17th century it was originally built for the Prince-Cardinal Maurice of Savoy whose brother Victor Amadeus I, Duke of Savoy was ruling at the time.

The Villa has an interesting history and a place worth visiting. As I mentioned in a previous post, the Savoy family were quite the flashy bunch. They had money and loved to show it off. This villa has a vineyard, gardens, fountains, an ice house, an orangery.. all surrounded by woods.

Inside, the decor is still in 17th century style with Chinese accents in lacquer and gold. At one point during it’s early days, it was to be recreated into a mini Versailles. The Villa remained in the Savoy family until 1868 at which it was donated to the Institute of Army Daughters.

As years went by, the use of the Villa became infrequent and at one point was completely abandoned. During these dark years, it was frequently vandalized and several statues were damaged and beheaded. In 1994 the property was turned over to the State. After years of remodeling and repairing damages from World War II and vandals, it was finally opened to the public in 2007.

I had always wanted to visit but never had the chance. That is until I decided to participate in a World Wide InstaMeet. Organized by the Instagram teams of IgersTorino and Igers_Piemonte, I jumped at the chance to attend. Every year, I see the notice and I always have something else planned. However this year, I was not going to pass this up. I’m so glad I went and I can’t wait until the next meet up!