Historic residence, commissioned by Queen Margherita of Savoy between the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, combines fairy-tale architecture with elegant interiors rich in decorative details.
Queen Margherita, the first Queen of Italy, chose the location as her summer vacation home. The building was one of the last gifts that King Umberto I gave to his wife because shortly after he died in the attack in Monza.
Castel Savoia stands out for its eclectic architecture and its five neo-Gothic towers, which emerge from the woods as in a fairy tale.
In a happy panoramic position on the Belvedere, the “real palace” is immersed in a thick conifer forest and overlooks a rich rock garden, created in the last years of the twentieth century.
The interiors are refined, with Coffered ceilings, Boiseries, Medieval-inspired furnishings and Art Nouveau decorations, often enriched with floral tributes and Savoy coats of arms.
It offers a tour that allows you to immerse yourself in the regal atmosphere of the early twentieth century, among halls, decorated wooden staircases and rooms that tell the story of the life of the sovereign and her illustrious guests.
The castle grounds include the Guesthouse and the Garage, while the Kitchens are located a short distance from the building and connected to the main structure by a Decauville rail system for transporting food
Particularly notable is the Central Tower, which offers a panoramic view of the surrounding mountains, including Monte Rosa
Wooden Staircase
Among the most surprising elements of the castle is certainly the staircase in “select oak” wood designed by the cabinetmaker of the Royal House Michele Dellera.
A double curved helix with panels carved with eagles, intertwining flowers and leaves on the handrail and, at the base of the first flight, two winged lions with the Savoy coat of arms on their chest
Portrait of Margherita
An informal image far from the refined and sumptuous ones of official portraits, which recalls how Margherita also loved being in company and taking part in excursions.
Botanical Garden
the garden presents a new setup of many Roccere and a path accessible to all. The guest of honor is the Reine Marguerite d’Italie, a rose created specifically by the Belgian nursery Soupert & Notting in 1904: a reblooming hybrid tea with large, carmine-red flowers and a pleasant scent.
Eclecticism
A term in art and architecture that indicates a style, widespread in Europe between the 19th and 20th centuries, that mixes and associates forms and motifs taken from different movements and trends.
Castel Savoia is, in this sense, exemplary, because it houses neo-medieval, neo-Renaissance and Art Nouveau architectural, decorative and furnishing elements, in refined combination with advanced technological solutions
Decauville
Original system for transporting food from the kitchens, located outside the castle, to the dining room.
In fact, Margherita unable to stand the smells coming from the kitchen, requested the design of a small Decauville railway (named after the French engineer Paul Decauville) that would serve as an underground food carrier on tracks that ran along a tunnel connecting the kitchens to the castle.
Queen’s Garage
a building once intended for Queen Margherita’s carriages which, restored and appropriately set up, now houses a new naturalistic exhibition space.
Other annexes of the castle are the Villa Belvedere, originally used as a guesthouse and royal gendarmerie, and the small house known as Romitaggio Carducci, dedicated to the poet who was a devoted admirer and singer of the Queen.
Strada Castello Savoia 1
Gressoney-Saint-Jean
Val d’Aosta – Italy
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