Venaria Reale Royale Castle - Torino (Turin, Italy)

The Palace of Venaria (Italian: Reggia di Venaria Reale) is a former royal residence located in Venaria Reale, near Turin, in Piedmont, northern Italy. It is one of the Residences of the Royal House of Savoy, included in the UNESCO Heritage List in 1997, and one of the largest royal residences in the world, comparable in size and structures to those of Versailles and Caserta (though the latter's park is far larger).
The Palace was designed and built from 1675 by Amedeo di Castellamonte, commissioned by duke Charles Emmanuel II, who needed a base for his hunting expeditions in the heathy hill country north of Turin. The name itself derives from Latin, Venatio Regia meaning "Royal Hunt".

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With more than 80000 square meters and a former hunting park known as "la mandria" with 16,237 acres or 6,571 hectares, this is one of Italy's and Europe's biggest royal palaces.
Just to compare, the more famous chateau de versailles is smaller, and has a structure of 60000 square meters and 2000 acres or 800 hectares of royal park. So, without a doubt, 10/10!

10/10

10/10 :)

10/10

GARDENS OF VENARIA REALE

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3598/3332737441_16fd636570.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/giardinidellareggia/3332737441/)
I Giardini de La Venaria Reale (http://www.flickr.com/photos/giardinidellareggia/3332737441/) di I Giardini della Reggia di Venaria (http://www.flickr.com/people/giardinidellareggia/), su Flickr

http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4063/4538216026_ec068e5121.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/gabbianow/4538216026/)
Giardini-Venaria.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/gabbianow/4538216026/) di tommaso mangiacasale (http://www.flickr.com/people/gabbianow/), su Flickr

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3287/2842998550_8cc8249410.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/keperrura/2842998550/)
Reggia di Venaria #27 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/keperrura/2842998550/) di k_eper (http://www.flickr.com/people/keperrura/), su Flickr

http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6031/6286563141_895cfcae70.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/asgeirpedersen/6286563141/)
Venaria Reale, the Gardens (http://www.flickr.com/photos/asgeirpedersen/6286563141/) di noralf (http://www.flickr.com/people/asgeirpedersen/), su Flickr

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2435/3761416057_823e39383f.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/35594443@N04/3761416057/)
Giardini della Reggia di Venaria Reale (http://www.flickr.com/photos/35594443@N04/3761416057/) di Roberto Figueredo Simonetti (http://www.flickr.com/people/35594443@N04/), su Flickr

http://farm2.staticflickr.com/1046/1216162305_f8cd607978.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/aner/1216162305/)
Venaria_014_20-lug-2007 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/aner/1216162305/) di aner73 (http://www.flickr.com/people/aner/), su Flickr

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2410/1672572268_3407306a90.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/mastino70/1672572268/)
071019 - Venaria - 07 - Reggia dei Savoia (http://www.flickr.com/photos/mastino70/1672572268/) di mastino70 (http://www.flickr.com/people/mastino70/), su Flickr

http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4154/5087565134_f7a0721824.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/7444532@N05/5087565134/)
Lower Gardens Of Venaria Reale / Venaria, parco basso (http://www.flickr.com/photos/7444532@N05/5087565134/) di klausbergheimer (http://www.flickr.com/people/7444532@N05/), su Flickr

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3251/2870277864_9c59c5a428.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/26515885@N07/2870277864/)
Sculture fluide opera di Giuseppe Penone (http://www.flickr.com/photos/26515885@N07/2870277864/) di Marta Baschieri Salvadori (http://www.flickr.com/people/26515885@N07/), su Flickr

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3263/2842997436_1226368df5.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/keperrura/2842997436/)
Reggia di Venaria #23 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/keperrura/2842997436/) di k_eper (http://www.flickr.com/people/keperrura/), su Flickr

7.5/10

the garden's pictures aren't showing the royal palace's full potential: the gardens are right now in restoration, we have to wait some years more to see them accomplished...

Here you are few more pictures...

http://www.grizzlyviaggi.it/web/images/stories/venaria_reale_intro.jpg

http://teatroacorte.it/2008/img/venaria.jpg

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_k9kpp1oAE3s/SHCIls2aeAI/AAAAAAAABCk/SuS6Z95kQaw/s1600/_MG_5069%2BVenaria%2BReale.jpg

http://www.fotografi-matrimonio.com/torino-galleria-foto-flavio-bandiera/images/213-Reggia-di-Venaria-Reale.JPG

http://www.lavenaria.it/web/images/stories/complesso/reggia/interni/reggia_diana/salone_diana.jpg

http://www.emisferiparalleli.it/sites/default/files/venaria_reale3.jpg

http://www.artearti.net/assets/images/uploads/LaVenariaReale.Giardini.jpg

...some ancient romans ruins above in the gardens, as a bonus...

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http://img692.imageshack.us/img692/9407/venariarealebianconero.jpg

7/10