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Royal Armoury of Turin

The Royal Armoury is the Savoy museum of arms, in piazzetta Reale 1, opened by Carlo Alberto in 1837; it is part of the Royal Museums and of the Command Zone of the UNESCO site of the Residenze sabaude.[1][7] It holds over 5,000 items from prehistory to the early twentieth century, about 1,700 of which are on display.[4]

The gallery

The museum occupies the gallery that Filippo Juvarra redesigned from 1732 on the structures of Carlo Emanuele I's Grande Galleria; from 1739 the works were directed by Benedetto Alfieri, who also designed the access staircase, built from 1740. Claudio Francesco Beaumont frescoed its vault between 1738 and 1743, and the marble fireplaces are by Simone Martinez.[1]

The museum

The first director was artillery captain Vittorio Seyssel d'Aix, who from 1837 arranged the parade of caparisoned horses. The collections grew out of pieces from the arsenals of Turin and Genoa and from purchased collections, such as those of Alessandro Sanquirico of Milan in 1833 and of the Martinengo family of the Fabbrica di Brescia in 1839.[2][3] In 1842 the museum expanded into the Rotonda by Pelagio Palagi, devoted to Eastern arms, and in 1946, with the Republic, it became a state museum.[3] The gallery was hit by the bombings of 13 July and 13 August 1943; the current layout, from 2005, follows the Albertine design.[1][4]

Recent works

On 22 December 2025 the Beaumont Gallery, the Medal Room and the Chinese Cabinet reopened after 160 days of works funded with 900,000 euros from the PNRR: new climate control systems, LED lighting and films against ultraviolet and infrared rays; during the works fifteen equestrian mannequins were moved.[4][5] The Royal Medal Room, founded by Carlo Alberto in 1832, holds over 31,000 pieces, including 28,601 coins and the Gradenigo collection.[4] Over 4,000 items not on display were moved from the damp basements to a new storage facility on the fifth floor of the Torre Ormea, whose opening is among the projects planned for 2026.[6][8]

Related articles: Canavese, House of Savoy, Palazzo Chiablese, Palazzo Reale, Royal Library of Turin, Turin State Archive

Pages linking here

Sources

  1. MuseoTorino
  2. MuseoTorino
  3. Musei Reali Torino
  4. Musei Reali Torino — 22 December 2025
  5. Torino Oggi — 22 December 2025
  6. Musei Reali Torino
  7. Commissione Nazionale Italiana per l'UNESCO — 24 October 2016
  8. ANSA — 18 February 2026

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