Cities
Venaria Reale (TO)
Thanks to its proximity to Turin and to its geographic position along a river, Venaria was an important silk-producing centre in the past. By the middle of the 16th century they had begun to grow the mulberry trees required to raise silk worms. However, it was not until after 1670 that the silk mills were set up and the spinning was done at home by women. In 1708 Venaria was the fifth largest Piedmontese silk producer. In 1927 Altessano Manufacturing S.A. was taken over by SNIA-Viscosa and this is the company that over the years has been linked to the history of the inhabitants of Venaria. Travelling along the wide Contrada Maestra (the present-day via Mensa) you reach the “jewel” of Venaria, the Reggia, which was built between 1659 and 1575 at the behest of Duke Charles Emanuel II by the ducal architect Amedeo of Castellamonte. The Reggia was the summer residence of the Savoys and the centre of court activity during the hunting season. Because of its beauty and its size, the king of France, Louis XVI, ordered his French architects to emulate it in the building of Versailles. The Venaria Reggia is currently in the midst of a long and costly restoration which will return it to its ancient splendour. When speaking of the Venaria Reggia one also thinks of the region’s “La Mandria” Park, an important natural resereve and environmental centre where different species of wild animals live in a wild or semi-wild stateand which is an old forested open plain.
Info
Piazza Martiri della Libertà, 1 - 10078 Venaria (To)
Tel.: +39.011.4072111
E-mail: urp@comune.venariareale.to.it
www.comune.venaria.to.it
