• Piedmont

• Regional Parks

• Po River Basin - Urban Areas

Nature

La Mandria Regional Park is an important reality in the environmental conservation. It is situated a few kilometers from the historical town center of Turin, and it offers the opportunity to spend relaxing moments surrounded by a friendly nature which has preserved the charm of the wilderness.
In this residual forest, a number of wild and domestic animal species live freely or in half-wild conditions.
You can enter the Park on foot or by bicycle, which you can even rent within the Park.
The Park offers equipped picnic areas, sport itineraries, nature trails, itineraries on horseback, cultural and leisure exhibitions and events, above all during the spring and the autumn.
Recently, the region of Piemonte has acquired a new portion of territory of about 320 hectares, including Tenuta dei Laghi and the homonymous Castle; to visit Tenuta it is necessary to book.

History

La Mandria Regional Park was established in the 16th century as a hunting reserve and a residence of the House of Savoia. At the half of the 17th century, Carlo Emanuele II was interested in it, and built with the help of Castellamonte a great leisure palace which subsequently became the group of buildings of the Castle of Venaria. Under the kingdom of Vittorio Amedeo II, a horse breeding activity was created for the royal stables (from here the name "La Mandria"), and then under the kingdom of Vittorio Emanuele II many other buildings were created (Borgo Castello, La Bizzarria, Le Cascine), which are very interesting from an historical and architectonic point of view.

At the end of the 19th century, Marchesi Medici del Vascello became the owners of the estate. The period going from 1920 to 1930 was characterized by important drainage works transforming the Estate into the area we can see today. In 1946, the Marquis was forced to split up the property. In 1955, La Mandria had two schools, from the kindergarten to the elementary schools. There were two chapels and two business clubs with TV, cinema, and theater. From 1954 to 1957, the newspaper "Corriere Mandriano" was sold. In 1958 a huge strip of land was given to Fiat, building in it a car test track. In 1960, 243 hectares were transformed into a golf field. Afterwards, further 430 hectares were purchased as hunting reserve by Bonomi Bolchini family, who also purchased Castello dei Laghi. A 400-hectare site was sold to build the residential complex "I Roveri" and another golf field. Another stretch of about 11 hectares and a half has been used to build the zooprophylaxis institute of Piedmont.

In 1976, Regione Piemonte purchased the remaining 1,345 hectares, to which further 500 hectares of Tenuta dei Laghi were added in 1995.

On 21st August 1978 a regional law established La Mandria Regional Park, with the aims to safeguard, recover, and enhance the environmental and historical unit formed by Venaria Reale Castle and by the annexed "Squares", La Mandria Castle, the Estate-former royal hunting reserve, as well as the real properties and chattels forming it and having historical, cultural, and environmental value; to promote and manage each necessary or useful initiative to enable the use of the territory with its real properties and chattels having historical, cultural, environmental, and landscape interest for recreational, educational, and scientific purposes; to safeguard and recover the natural environment in its biological, zoological, botanical, and geological aspects; to guarantee the most efficient protection and enhancement action for woodlands; to promote any necessary or useful activity for the qualification of the existing agricultural activities.

• The Middle Ages
• The Hunting Territory
• Savoia's Regie Mandrie
• Vittorio Emanuele II
• Medici del Vascello
• 1976: La Mandria Regional Park

Breeding Activities

The important breeding activities, at first horse breeding activities giving the name Mandria to the place, and afterwards wild fauna and cattle breeding activities, have characterized Mandria since its origin and have resisted in the 20th century through the events of the Savoia family and the agricultural changes which took place according to the will of the marquesses Medici del Vascello during the twenty years of Fascism.
With the establishment of La Mandria Regional Park deep changes occurred in the use of the territory, according to the will of safeguarding the remains of the ancient plain wood made of oaks and hornbeams, whose survival was menaced by reclamation activities and by the strong presence of ungulates, above all cervids and cattle. Nowadays hunting is forbidden, cattle and wild fauna breeding activities have been eliminated, deer and wild boars are subject to restriction plans; the Park only maintains, as evidence of its origins and for the visitors who want to carry out tours on horseback or by carriage, a small nucleus of riding and draught horses at Cascina Vittoria.
In recent years, the project "Nuovi Pascoli" has started: its aim is to safeguard and enhance the endangered Italian horse breeds having good rusticity features and which well adapt to the semi-wild state the Park offers: the animals live in large enclosures where they can freely move and follow their biological rhythms according to nature, recovering typical behavior of the species.
La Mandria houses two endangered horse breeds:

• Italian Agricultural Hard and Fast Draught Horse (PDF file, Italian text - 214 Kb)
• Bardigiano horse (PDF file, Italian text - 181 Kb).

Opening Times

The Park opens every day at 8.00 a.m.

It closes at:

• 5.00 p.m. from the end of October, on the day of the introduction of the solar time until 15th February
• 6.00 p.m. from 16th February until the end of March on the day before the introduction of the summertime and from 1st October until the end of October, on the day before the introduction of the solar time
• 8.00 p.m. from the end of March, on the day of the introduction of the summertime until 30th September

We remind you that in case of snow, wind, or abundant rain, the Park will be closed.

Before visiting the Park when the weather is not fine, please call the Park Info Point at the following phone numbers:

• 011/4993322
• 011/4993381

Why the Park is closed in case of bad weather