Royal Palace of Turin or Palazzo Reale, is a palace in Turin, northern
Italy. It was the royal palace of the House of Savoy. It was modernised greatly by the French born Madama Reale Christine Marie of
France (1606–1663) in the 17th century. The palace was worked on by Filippo Juvarra. It includes the Palazzo Chiablese.
History
In the reign of Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy (1528–1580), the site was once part of an old Bishops palace in the center of the new capital of Savoy, Turin. From this palace, the Duke was able to monitor the two entrances of the city - the Palatine and Pretoria gates. The old palace in Turin was thus abandoned and had previously been the residence of the French Viceroys of Savoy who were appointed by Francis I of France having captured Savoy 1536. Opposite the bishops palace was the Palazzo Vecchio or the Palazzo di San Giovanni. These would later be swallowed up by the grander Ducal Palace.
The old Bishops Palace thus became the seat of power and was greatly expanded by Emmanuel Philibert in order to house his ever expanding collections of art, animals, marbles and furniture. Emmanuel Philibert died in Turin in August 1580 and the Savoyard throne was handed on to his son who was known as Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy (1562–1630). In celebration of the joint marriages of his daughters Princess Margaret and Princess Isabella in 1608, Charles Emmanuel I commissioned the construction of a ring of porches which was topped off by an open gallery. His son the future Victor Amadeus I, Duke of Savoy (1587–1637) made a very prestigious marriage with the French Princess Christine Marie of France; their marriage occurred in Paris at the Louvre in 1619.
Victor Amadeus I succeeded to the Duchy of Savoy in 1630. He had spent his youth in Madrid at the court of his grand father Philip II of
Spain. It was his wife who set the mood for her husband reign; she had the court moved from the ducal palace in Turin to the
Castello Del Valentino which in that time was on the outskirts of the small capital. Many of Victor Amadeus I and Christine Marie were born at Valentino including Francis Hyacinth, Duke of Savoy and his successor Charles Emmanuel II, Duke of Savoy. Christine Marie was regent of Savoy after the death of her husband in 1637; she was the regent of her two sons who succeeded as Duke of Savoy.
