Filippo Juvarra designed the hunting lodge for Victor Amadeus II, King of Sardinia, and works began in 1729. The central hall was completed in 1730, and the first formal hunt was held in 1731. After Juvarra left Turin, his assistant Giovanni Tommaso Prunotto directed the work from his sketches, and later architects added extensions.
The plan is a saltire, with four angled wings projecting from an oval central hall under a dome topped by a stag statue. The article describes an Italian Rococo interior with lacquers, porcelain, gilded stucco and mirrors. It has 137 rooms and 17 galleries, with about 334,000 square feet (31,050 m²) of floor area. The French gardener Michael Benard designed the formal garden in 1740.
The original stag statue was moved indoors in 1992 and a bronze copy replaced it. The palace houses the Museo di Arte e Ammobiliamento. The surrounding woods have been a natural park since 1992.

Comments