Castello Ducale di Agliè

The Ducal Castle of Agliè is a Savoy residence developed from a seventeenth-century estate and reshaped in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Its furnished rooms, art collections and historic park preserve the character of a royal residence in the Canavese.

Why it matters

Agliè forms part of the Residences of the Royal House of Savoy, inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1997. Its collections and interiors reflect successive owners, including the Dukes of Chiablese, King Charles Felix and Queen Maria Cristina. The complex combines royal residence, landscape design and the history of the surrounding village.

What to notice

The Sala delle cacce is decorated with hunting-themed stuccoes by Giuseppe Bolina. In the Salone d'onore, frescoes by Giovanni Paolo Recchi and his workshop celebrate Arduino d'Ivrea. The Sala Tuscolana contains antiquities collected by Queen Maria Cristina, while other rooms preserve ethnographic and Asian objects. A two-storey covered gallery connects the castle with the parish church.

Context and history

Construction began in the 1640s for Filippo San Martino d'Agliè on the remains of an earlier castle. In 1764 Charles Emmanuel III acquired the estate for his son Benedetto Maria Maurizio, Duke of Chiablese. Architect Ignazio Birago di Borgaro reshaped the complex and its relationship with the village. Under Charles Felix and Maria Cristina, interiors and collections were further developed; landscape designer Xavier Kurten restyled the grounds between 1838 and 1840. The Italian State acquired the castle in 1939.