A bit of a time warp here...we left Torino two days ago, but I didn't have time to post a few events and photos. For example, we visited the Palazzo Reale and the Risorgimento Museum last week.
The Palazzo includes the Sabauda Museum/Art collection, and an impressive armory collection.
The Palazzo Reale, or the Royal Palace, is in the center of the city; indeed, part of it is built over a Roman Theater, and Roman walls. Built in the 16th century, it was a Royal Palace of the House of Savoy. After WWII, it became a state property and is now a museum with a UNESCO World Heritage site.
An impressive stairway entrance to the Palazzo Reale
Who knew that the Savoy opulence could rival that of Lois XIV? The Throne room of the Palazzo Reale
The armory
Italian unification, the Risorgimento, is more complicated than I could recount, but during our visit to the Museo del Risorgimento, housed in the Palazzo Carignano, I picked up a few basics.
Palazzo Carignano...houses the Risorgimento Museum
Apparently the French Revolution in 1789 triggered anti-monarchical movements in other European countries. And just as there were reversals in the march for French freedom and democracy, there were similar setbacks in attempts at Italian freedom in Italy...from 1815 through to 1861, when the first Italian Parliament was held, and Vittorio Emanuele II was proclaimed King of Italy...to 1871 when Rome became the capital. Another key figure in Italian unification was Giuseppe Garibaldi. He had cut his teeth as a freedom fighter in South America, and in 1860 lead a thousand volunteers to Sicily to overthrow the King of the Two Sicilies (Palermo and Naples), which had been ruled by either the Spanish or French. Garibaldi's "red shirts" we're successful, and he found his place in Italian history alongside Mazzini, Foscolo, Rossetti, Menotti, Cavour...
A portrayal of Garibaldi at the Risorgimento Museum
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