Italy Guide
Piemonte and Valle d'Aosta
Palazzo Reale
The sixteenth-century Palazzo Reale Opening time: Tues– Sun 8.30am–7.30pmPrice: €6.50 was designed as the residence for Vittorio Emanuele II. The unexceptional facade hides glitzy, semi-furnished rooms gilded virtually top-to-bottom and decorated with bombastic allegorical paintings. On the right-hand side is the Armeria Reale (Tues– Fri 9am–2pm; Sat, Sun & holidays 1–7pm; €4), a collection of armour and weapons spanning seven centuries and several continents started by King Carlo Alberto in 1837. The same building houses the Biblioteca Reale (Mon & Wed 8.15am–6.45pm, Tues & Thurs– Sat 8.15am–1.45pm; free, varying fees for temporary exhibitions), which occasionally displays its collection of drawings by artists including Leonardo da Vinci, Bellini, Raphael, Tiepolo and Rembrandt.