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The construction of Valentino Castle started in the XVI century, funded by Christina of France, the wife of Vittorio Amedeo I, and Carlo and Amedeo di Castellamonte; their typical French taste can be recognized in the pitched roofs. The castle was later enlarged and transformed.

Overlooking the Po River on one side, it was later altered, further developing its front side towards the city: a large courtyard of honour closed on three sides was, therefore, built, altering the two lateral bodies perpendicular to the façade; the courtyard was fitted with a portico and a loggia, while two square towers were erected on its sides.

After the death of Christina of France, the residence went through several changes of ownership: it was used as a veterinary school in the French period, then as barracks in 1824, a school for engineers in 1859, and finally, as the seat of the Faculty of Architecture of the Turin Polytechnic.

The rooms on the main floor have impressive XVII century fresco decorations and golden or white stucco. The central hall and the rooms to its right (the Moncalieri apartment), were entrusted to Isidoro Bianchi and his sons.

In the central hall, there are some beautiful frescoes of the French noblewoman, representing the pro-French dynastic feats of the Dukes of Savoy.

The Green Room decorations feature the Rape of Europa and the apotheosis of the bull on the ceiling, with mythological scenes in the niches.

Then, there are the “Room of Roses” and the “Room of the Zodiac”, decorated with wondrous stuccos. Flora, the Muses and the centaur Chiron in the centre of the ceiling are visible in the “Room of the Valentine” or “of the Birth of flowers”: in the same fresco, Apollo entrusts the castle of Valentino to the centaur himself. Then again, there are the small “Cabinet of flowers” and the “Room of the Lilies”, also decorated with rich stuccoes and seals with lily-bearing cherubs.

To the left of the central hall, there’s the Turin Apartment, decorated with white stuccoes by Alessandro Casella and frescoes by Giovanni Paolo and Giovanni Antonio Recchi.

The War Room, on the other hand, is frescoed with battle scenes and then, the “Audience” or “Shop Room” and the “Magnificence Room” are decorated with some views of Turin and frescoed landscapes. Not to mention the “Hunt Room”, frescoed with the effigy of goddess Diana and the nymphs on the ceiling, as well as the adjoining “Cabinet of the Labors of Hercules” and the “Feast Room”.

To the left of the castle, there’s the 6.7-acre Botanical Garden, built by Vittorio Amedeo II in 1729. It houses several rare plants and is equipped with large greenhouses, a herbarium, and a Library with precious botanical tables dating back to 1700.

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