| Parco naturale La Mandria | |
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| Location | Piedmont |
| Nearest city | Turin |
| Area | 6,571.00ha |
| Established | 1978 |
| Governing body | Ente di gestione delle aree protette dei Parchi Reali |
La Mandria Regional Park is a park in theComune ofVenaria Reale andDruento,near Turin,northern Italy. Founded in 1978 by the regional council ofPiedmont, it occupies a wide area between theStura di Lanzo torrent and the north-western part of Turin and Venaria.
It is the second largest enclosed park in Europe, with a surface of some 3,000 hectares, bounded by a 30 km long wall built in the mid-19th century byVictor Emmanuel II, who had moved to the castle here (theBorgo Castello) the residence of hismorganatic wife,Rosa Vercellana. The park included one of the last relics of the large forest which once covered the wholePo Plain. Fauna includeswild boars anddeer. The park has also breeds of horse races which are considered in risk of extinction. There are many accesses to the park: the gate of the avenue Bella Rosina, Fiano and the gates of Robassomero: Oslera Cascina, Cascina La Falchetta and Royal Park I Roveri, and of course those from Turin.
The existence of a building in the wood is documented since the 18th century, whenVictor Amadeus II built here the stables of the nearby RoyalPalace of Venaria, within a royal hunting reserve active since the 16th century.
Filippo Juvarra worked at the castle in the 1720s. In 1860 Victor Emmanuel ordered the enlargement of the village (designers included Ernesto Melano), turning it into a castle with a surface of 35,000 m2. The new structure had a rectangular shape measuring 280 x 100 m with three internal courtyards. The King wanted here a private residence (not belonging to the royal estates) to live with his morganatic wife, Rosa Vercellana. An apartment was built for her family by Domenico Ferri. In 1861 the structure was expanded with the "Villa of the Lakes", aneo-Gothic wing and a fountain of a sea horse fighting a triton byVincenzo Vela. All the edifices, similarly to thePalazzo Carignano in Turin, are in brickwork.
In 1997, the castle was placed on theUNESCOWorld Heritage Site list along with 13 otherresidences of the House of Savoy.[1]
In the late 19th century La Mandria and its buildings were sold to the Medici del Vascello family. AfterWorld War II, a testing track owned byFIAT, a golf court and a residential center were added. It became a regional estate in 1976.
Media related toParco naturale La Mandria at Wikimedia Commons
Residences of the RoyalHouse of Savoy | ||
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| Turin | .svg) | |
| Province of Turin | ||
| Province of Cuneo |
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| International | |
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| National | |
45°08′07″N7°37′31″E / 45.13528°N 7.62528°E /45.13528; 7.62528
