Rivoli Castle was probably built in the 9th or 10th century, though the date is uncertain. It is first mentioned in 1159, and the House of Savoy acquired it in the 11th century. Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy, had it restored in the 1560s, and Ascanio Vitozzi led the work. Carlo and Amedeo di Castellamonte continued his designs until 1644, including the Manica Lunga, the only 17th-century part still visible.
French troops besieged and burned it in 1706. Michelangelo Garove enlarged the Manica Lunga afterward, and from 1716 Filippo Juvarra planned a grand project and a new facade. Both were left unfinished. The castle became barracks in 1863.
Restoration began in 1979 after long abandonment, and Andrea Bruno led the postwar renovation. It reopened as a museum in 1984. UNESCO inscribed it in 1997 among the Savoy residences.
Comments