Villa Della Regina

Today we decided to go to the villa della regina, which we had seen from the top of the Mole on our second visit. We knew it would be a bit of a walk but we were prepared. We walked to the Via Po, then crossed the Po river. We decided to take a rest on the steps of the Gran Madre Di Dio. Then we discovered that the church doors were open this time, so we took a look. I found this church to be so much simpler than many others, and the top of the dome was cool. I am glad we got to go inside, I think it is a very interesting church to visit, especially when you compare it to the others. We continued past the Gran Madre, we walked up the long hillside but we eventually arrived at the Villa. It is a lot less grand than the other palaces and also a lot more charming. It was given the name Villa Della Regina because the Savoy queens loved it. It was originally built for a cardinal, but it was captured by the Savoys and made into a residence. But when they stopped using it, it was used as a girls school for the daughters of the Italian revolution. After they left, it was bombed and looted, and left alone for nearly 20 years. In 1997 they took up the big task of restoring it, which they finished just in time for the olympics in 2006. Many of the pictures and decorations were looted or taken to another palace or gallery. We went inside and were told we did not need tickets, it was free. We walked into a room and watched a video showing the Villa's disrepair, then moved on up the stairs to the second floor. We first saw a room with paintings on the ceiling and walls. We walked further and saw what was left of the king and queens bedrooms, we also saw that they each had a dressing room and two Chinese style rooms. The Chinese rooms seemed to be the most intact and decorated of them all. There was even a room which the queen decorated the walls completely in Chinese fans. We went outside to see the gardens and the beautiful fountains and statues there too. We saw some with heads that did not match their bodies. We saw tadpoles in one of the fountains, which made Griffin very happy. After we checked out the gardens we ate apples while looking at the amazing view, then headed back down. On our way down we stopped at a bakery and got hand pizzas and cookies and ate on the steps of the Gran Madre. We wandered around Turin for a while before heading home. I'll post again soon.