Residences of the Royal House of Savoy in Turin

17 September 2022 | Author/Destination: | Category: General, Palaces, Castles, Manors, Parks, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  6 minutes

Castello del Valentino © panoramio.com - Michael Paraskevas/cc-by-sa-3.0

Castello del Valentino © panoramio.com – Michael Paraskevas/cc-by-sa-3.0

The Residences of the Royal House of Savoy are a group of buildings in Turin and the Metropolitan City of Turin, in Piedmont (northern Italy). It was added to the UNESCO World Heritage Sites list in 1997. The House of Savoy is an ancient royal family, being founded in year 1003 in the Savoy region (now in Rhône-Alpes, France), later expanding so that by 1720 it reigned over the Kingdom of Sardinia in northwestern Italy. Through its junior branch, the House of Savoy-Carignano, it led the unification of Italy in 1861 and ruled the Kingdom of Italy from 1861 until the end of World War II. At this time, King Victor Emanuel III abdicated in favour of his son Umberto II but after an institutional referendum in 1946, the monarchy was abolished, a republic was established, and members of the House of Savoy were required to leave the country. After many decades of diplomacy, the family has since been allowed to return to Italy.   read more…

Bra in Piedmont

2 February 2013 | Author/Destination: | Category: General Reading Time:  4 minutes

© Davide Papalini/cc-by-sa-3.0

© Davide Papalini/cc-by-sa-3.0

Bra is a town and comune in the province of Cuneo in the northwest Italian region of Piedmont. It is situated 50 km south of Turin and 50 km northeast of Cuneo in the area known as Roero.   read more…

Cuneo in Piedmont

7 August 2012 | Author/Destination: | Category: General Reading Time:  5 minutes

Piazza Galimberti Panorama © Alessandro Vecchi

Piazza Galimberti Panorama © Alessandro Vecchi

Cuneo is a city and comune in Piedmont, Northern Italy, the capital of the province of Cuneo, the third largest of Italy’s provinces by area. It is located at the foot of the Maritime Alps, on the Stura di Demonte river where it emerges from the Valle Stura.   read more…

Alba in the Piedmont region

7 July 2012 | Author/Destination: | Category: General Reading Time:  6 minutes

Piazza Risorgimento © Davide Papalini

Piazza Risorgimento © Davide Papalini

Alba is a town and comune of Piedmont, Italy, in the province of Cuneo. It is considered the capital of the hilly area of Langhe, and is famous for its white truffle and wine production. The confectionery group Ferrero is based in Alba. In addition to traditional agriculture, Alba is a very important center of wine. In the area of Alba, in fact, there are 290 wineries that cultivating an area of 700 hectares of land, producing an average of 61,200 hl of wine annually.   read more…

The Lago Maggiore

14 October 2011 | Author/Destination: | Category: General, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  7 minutes

Isola Bella - Borromean Islands © Mbdortmund

Isola Bella – Borromean Islands © Mbdortmund

Lake Maggiore is a large lake located on the south side of the Alps. It is the second largest of Italy and largest of southern Switzerland. Lake Maggiore is the most westerly of the three great prealpine lakes of Italy, it extends for about 70 km between Locarno and Arona. The climate is mild in both summer and winter, producing Mediterranean vegetation, with beautiful gardens growing rare and exotic plants. Well-known gardens include those of the Isola Madre, Isola Bella and the Isole di Brissago, that of the Villa Taranto in Verbania, and the Alpinia botanical garden above Stresa.   read more…

Turin, capital of the Alps

3 August 2011 | Author/Destination: | Category: General, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  8 minutes

Turin Collage © DanieleDF1995

Turin Collage © DanieleDF1995

Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat to be 1.7 million inhabitants; the Turin metropolitan area is estimated by OECD to have a population of 2.2 million.   read more…

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