• A walk in the
  Old Town Center
• All about the Old Town Center
  • History
  • Altessano
  • Ceronda
  • The "Corte Pagliere"
  • Palazzo Carignano
  • Piazza Annunziata
  • Church of the Nativity
  • Piazza Esedra
  • Via Maestra
  • The "Silk Lane"

 

 

Old Town Centre of Venaria Reale, detail of piazza dell’Annunziata
Progetto La Venaria Reale

 

Old Town Centre of Venaria Reale, detail of piazza dell’Annunziata
Progetto La Venaria Reale

 

HISTORY

The Old Town Center

The old town center of Venaria was built between 1667 and 1690 on a plan by Amedeo di Castellamonte. It centered around Piazza dell’Annunziata, the square dedicated to the Annunciation of Mary.
The two statues on the columns standing in the centre of the exedras depict the Angel Gabriel and the Virgin Mary: the unusual shape of the square is also reminiscent of the medallion of the “Collar of the Annunziata”, the symbol of one of the oldest and most prestigious Savoy Knightly Orders.

The piazza was designed as a relatively wide area, interrupting the long axis of the Via Maestra (or Contrada Granda, the town’s main street, which is now Via Mensa leading to the Reggia). By breaking it into two stretches, it creates a genuinely dramatic pause that heightens the final effect when the Palace suddenly comes into view at the end of the street.

In addition, the town needed a place that would serve as a social and cultural meeting point for its inhabitants, and that would also display the productive side of life in Venaria through the craft shops whose windows line the arcades.

After the 17th century, with the exception of the rebuilding of the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary in Piazza dell’Annunziata in the mid-18th century by the architect Benedetto Alfieri, building work only resumed during the French occupation and mainly concerned new houses in the area south of the Contrada Granda. Once the Napoleonic occupation was over, no major changes occurred for a long time, except to alter the use of various buildings. During the 19th century, the whole town took on a military look.

The Old Town Centre of Venaria Reale with the Reggia in the background
 

 

Anonymous, view of the town and the Reggia of Venaria Reale, oil on canvas, second half of the 17th century (Medici del Vascello private collection)
Progetto La Venaria Reale

 

Aerial view of piazza dell'Annunziata
Progetto La Venaria Reale