Palazzo Madama

An architectural cocktail of contrasting eras and styles the centrepiece to piazza Castello is a synthesis of the story of Turin. Although not visible from outside, the two front columns behind the façade are the remains of the Porta Praetoria, one of the gates in the walls of the Roman settlement of Giulia Augusta Taurinorum founded in 28 BC. In the 13th century the gate was transformed into a castle using the red-brick which characterizes the main body of the building. Later in the 13th century the city fell definitively under Savoy rule and in the 15th century a nobleman, Ludovico d’Acaia, transformed it from a fortress to a ducal palace. The name ‘Madama’ refers to two women (‘madama’ being piemontese for ‘lady’): firstly, Maria Cristina of France, the wife of Duke Vittorio Amedeo, and subsequently, Maria Giovanna Battista of Savoie-Nemours, the second wife of Duke Carlo Emmanuele II. While the red-brick mass is rather lumpy and ivy-ridden, the highlight of the Palazzo Madama is the baroque façade designed by Filippo Juvarra and built between 1718-21.