Castello degli Acaia

Starting from the ancient Porta Praetoria of Roman Age which constituted the east entrance to the city, and constituted by two towers with sixteen sides in the base and united by a wall with four frames, in 1276 Guglielmo VII marquis of Monferrato leaned there a fort-house (fortified residence).

Since the pre-existent door was blocked, it was necessary to build a new one, the Porta Fibellona, opened in the wall next to the castle. Other important works were made by Filippo, first prince of Savoy-Acaia, who between 1317 and 1320 – involving the pre-existent fort-house – started the construction of a complex annexed to the fortified walls between the two towers and projected towards the exterior of the roman wall, towards the river Po.

Castle of the Acaia

The most relevant transformations in a residential way for the castle were instead ascribed to the committeemen Ludovico, the last prince of Acaia, about 1420s.

When it lost the defensive function, it was used as residence of the Royal Madams. Under the second of these (Maria Giovanna Battista of Savoy-Nemours) that Filippo Juvarra edified the baroque façade (palazzo Madama) and, inside, the magnificent monumental staircase.

Seat of the court life and of the Savoy bureaucrat system, the castle became one of the functional and structural poles of the city.

Next to the palace, there are the three monuments of the Ensign of the Sardinian Army, to Emanuele Filiberto duke of Aosta and that to the Italian Cavalrymen.