These excursions and tours have been specially selected for the IIC Congress and you can book these when you register your place at the Congress via the IIC site. We have also included a series of How To Get There guides at the bottom of this page.

Half way down this page you will also find details of post-congress tours, in Turin and in Piedmont, to be made available to you for booking directly through Ventana Group, a separate tourist company that works with our partners Turismo Torino (and not through the IIC Congress booking system).

 

CASTELLO DEL VALENTINO 

Valentino Castle is one of the ‘Residences of Royal House of Savoy’ included in the List of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1997. The castle, which is situated on the banks of the River Po, was a residence of the Savoy court from the sixteenth century and now houses the offices of the Politecnico di Torino Department of Architecture. It was built in many phases, beginning in the mid-sixteenth century, and was given by Duke Carlo Emanuele I to his young daughter-in-law, Cristina, daughter of the King of France and wife of Vittorio Amedeo I. According to her wishes, in the 1620s the residence was converted by the ducal engineer Carlo di Castellamonte into a maison de plaisance in the French style. Cristina of France ordered the decoration of the principal floor with beautiful and elaborate stuccowork, frescoes and paintings. The tour will take participants through these rooms and will also describe the technological experimentation which led to the best choices to safeguard and preserve this important work of cultural heritage.

Please note that both the Tuesday and Thusday tours are now fully booked.

 There will be two opportunities to visit Valentino Castle:

1) Tuesday 11th September

Meet at the castle at 6 pm. The visits begin at 6pm (first group) and 6.45 pm (second group). The tour is free of charge for those who register, but only the first 100 delegates applying for it will be able to attend. Dinner on your own at the end of tour in one of the city’s charming neighbourhoods.

2) Thursday 13th September

This visit runs in parallel with the other Thursday museum tours. Four visits will be held, beginning at 4.30 pm, then 5.15 pm, 6 pm and 6.45 pm. The visits are again free of charge; 25 people in each group.

 

Wednesday Tours (before the Congress dinner)

© Fondazione Centro Conservazione e Restauro La Venaria Reale

CENTRO DI CONSERVAZIONE E RESTAURO AND REGGIA DI VENARIA 

The Conservation and Restoration Centre is a not-for-profit foundation opened in 2005 by the will of its founding members to establish an advanced training and research institute for the restoration and conservation of cultural heritage. The Centre host the Master’s Degree in Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Heritage offered by the University of Torino. The care of works of art finds its core in the conservation laboratories, a place in which professionals, teacher and students continuously share and develop ideas.

Restorers, art historians, science professionals, students, teachers and technical staff work in the former eighteenth-century Scuderie and Maneggio designed by Benedetto Alfieri, newly interpreted by contemporary architecture and equipped with advanced technology. These historic spaces stand in the monumental Reggia di Venaria, an architectural and landscape masterpiece, designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The monumental palace or “Reggia” boasts some of the finest examples of universal Baroque: the elegant Hall of Diana, designed by Amedeo di Castellamonte; the solemn Great Gallery and the Church of St Hubert; the imposing complex of the Juvarra Stables, designed by Filippo Juvarra in the eighteenth century; the sumptuous decorations and the spectacular Fountain of the Stag in the Court of Honour provide a unique setting for the Theatre of History and Magnificence, the permanent display – almost 2,000 m long – devoted to the House of Savoy that extends from the basement level to the piano nobile of the Reggia. The inauguration on 12 October 2007 marked the rebirth of the Reggia and its Gardens.

The visit includes the Conservation and Restoration Centre, the Reggia di Venaria and the exhibition La fragilità della bellezza, the XVIII edition of the Restituzioni Programme.

Day of the visit: Wednesday 12th September

Free shuttle service round trip Torino – Venaria:

OPTION 1
• outward voyage: departure 3.30 pm from Torino Politecnico to Venaria
• return voyage: departure 7.30 pm from Venaria to Torino, Piazza Castello

 In this option the bus to the Conservation and Restoration Centre departs shortly after the last session of papers finishes at 3.10 pm.

OPTION 2
• outward voyage: departure 5 pm from Torino, Piazza Castello to Venaria
• return voyage: departure 11 pm from Venaria to Torino, Piazza Castello

 This option is particularly convenient for those who are attending the Grand Dinner in the Great Gallery. For those who are not, it is possible to return to Torino by local bus or taxi.

Please specify your preferred option, 1 or 2, when booking registration. Please note that it is not possible to mix the options.

Duration of visit: 2 hours

Price: free admittance, booking required. For further information please contact [email protected]

Participants: All those registered for the IIC 2018 Turin Congress, ‘Preventive Conservation: The State of the Art’ may book the visit.

Deadline for booking the visit: 31st August 2018 - N.b.: after 31st August, the free shuttle service is only available if there are seats available in the coaches / buses.

 

Thursday Tours

Please note that congress participants leave the main congress venue (the Politecnico) at 15.25 for these visits and tours.

MUSEO DELL’AUTOMOBILE 

The guided visit begins at the second level of the Museum to get an historical framework of the collection. It then continues in the Open Garage and will be accompanied by specialised staff, with a video and poster. The Open Garage has a small treasure trove of vehicles ready to be put on display, or in the process of being restored, brought back to life: an area of over 2000 square metres which is home to about 70 pieces arranged in chronological order. The area is devoted to maintenance and conservation and is the beating heart of a lively and ever-changing collection. The Open Garage is the centrepiece of the MAUTO Restoration Centre, the first centre specialising in the restoration of vintage cars. For the first time, the techniques used to restore works of art to their former glory will be used to give new life to valuable vintage cars.

• Duration: 2 hours
• Price: £12.50 per person including the entrance fee and guided visit of the Museum and the Open Garage
• Participants: 25

(For safety reasons the capacity of the open garage is 25 persons at a time. If there are more participants, two groups will be formed.)

MUSEO NAZIONALE DEL RISORGIMENTO ITALIANO 

The National Museum of the Italian Risorgimento is the first, the biggest and the most important among the 23 museums in Italy dedicated to the Risorgimento, the only one which can be considered ’National‘, according to a 1901 law, due to its rich and great collections. The museum was established in 1878, shortly after Italian unification, although it only had its first permanent exhibition in 1908. Originally located in the Mole Antonelliana, in 1938 it was moved to its current site, the Palazzo Carignano, which had previously housed the Subalpine Chamber of Deputies, from 1848 to 1860, and then the first Italian Chamber of Deputies, from 1861 to 1865. The visit focuses on the construction, the vicissitudes and the regeneration of the Chamber of Deputies of the Italian Kingdom.

• Duration: 2 hours
• Price: free admittance to the Museum, £3 per person for the English translator
• Participants: 25 to 30 people

 

The Royal Museums of Turin have recently been brought together to form a single large museum complex, offering a fascinating journey through 55,000 square metres of history, art and nature. The items on display range from prehistoric to modern times in a huge museum project that attracts thousands of visitors each year to the Royal Palace, the Royal Gardens, the Archaeological Museum, the Royal Library and Royal Armoury, the Galleria Sabauda, Palazzo Chiablese and the Chapel of the Holy Shroud. Quite apart from the individual solutions adopted, the visit being put on for the IIC 2018 Congress is therefore a journey through the time and space of the everyday work of restoration in the Museums. The aim is to offer IIC Congress participants a special itinerary (a mirror-image of what is normally offered to tourists), starting with a visit to the Restoration Laboratory of the Archaeological Museum. Here work is carried out every day on the conservation of materials from historical collections (with work often being carried out on old, historicised restoration) and from archaeological excavations. The visit will then briefly examine ancient glass from the archaeological collections, which include almost 1000 specimens, currently the object of an XRF (X-ray fluorescence, with portable and fixed instruments) and SEM (scanniing electron microscope) analysis project. This project involves systematic, non-invasive investigation of the materials on display in the museum with the aim of finding solutions for conservation problems, as well as the ‘historic’ need to clarify some unknown aspects of the manufacturing techniques. This involves creating a dataset of comparative-statistical analyses that show how the different composition of ancient glass affects current deterioration of these artefacts. The tour will then continue through the Royal Palace to examine the conservation of historic furnishings and the solutions adopted for the corridor that leads to the Chapel of the Holy Shroud. The Chapel has been subjected to special restoration and the corridor, which remained empty until 2017, is currently being rearranged and subjected to preservative restoration prior to the display of paintings purchased by the Savoy dynasty (and by Charles Albert in particular) illustrating the adventures involved in retrieving the Holy Shroud and the search for the Holy Grail. The visit will end in the last room of the Savoy Armoury where restoration work has returned the Beaumont Gallery to its original glory, together with its vast collection of armour. After an absence of fifty years, this has recently (January 2017) seen the arrival of the Japanese armour B.53, one of three complete Japanese suits of armour that entered the Royal Armoury collection in the nineteenth century. The restoration of the complex suit, consisting of a range of different materials, and its preservation in the innovative showcase created for it, has been made possible by the joint work of the restorers of the Royal Museums and external specialists working on the Restituzioni Project of Intesa Sanpaolo.

Please note that this tour is now fully booked

• Duration: 1½-2 hours
• Price: £11 per person for the entrance to the Museum
• Participants: max 75 people (3 x 25)

 

MUSEO NAZIONALE DEL CINEMA 

‘PREVENTION IS BETTER THAN CURE’

The National Cinema Museum has always been engaged in the preventive treatment of its patrimony. Being a heterogeneous patrimony kept in different types of exhibition site and storage, it lends itself to a preventive, constant and structured analysis led by a team of professionals belonging to different fields: conservators, restorers and specialists in environmental control. An introductory meeting will be organised with some members of the Museum team: during this session, a presentation of the preventive conservation policies in use in the permanent venue of the Museum and its storage areas will take place. A visit to the Museum will follow and the core will be on conservative aspects.

Please note that this tour is now fully booked

• Duration: 1½-2 hours
• Price: £12 per person
• Participants: min. 15 people/ max 30 people 

 

CITY TOUR – CLASSIC TURIN 

A guided city walk in the city centre to discover over 2000 years of Turin’s history, from Roman times through the splendours of the Kingdom up to the present day. A ‘regal’ tour visiting UNESCO World Heritage sites in the city’s heart, glorious churches, magnificent palaces and elegant plazas.

• Duration: 2 hours
• Price: £5 per person
• Participants: max 25 people

Please note that this tour is now fully booked

 

Friday Tours

PALAZZO MADAMA

During the Farewell Reception on Friday 14th September in the Palazzo Madama there will be the chance to join a guided tour in English of the first floor plus a viewing of the painting by Antonello da Messina on the ground floor. Places are limited to 100 people in four groups of 25.

• Duration: 30 minutes
• Price: £4 per person
• Participants: Four tours with a maximum of 25 people per tour
• Time: tours begin at 7.00pm, 7.10pm, 7.20pm, 7.30pm

 

Post-Congress Tours

Several post-Congress tours have been created for Congress participants through one of IIC’s partners in the Congress, Turismo Torino, and the Ventana Group. These are designed for those who wish to explore Turin and the surrounding province of Piedmont. These can be booked directly with Ventana. Full details of the tours will be found here.

Half Day Turin Tours

VENARIA REGGIA AND ITS GARDENS

The most important of the residences of the Royal House of Savoy is the Reggia di Venaria Reale. Visitors will see the heart of the palace, the seventeenth-century Sala di Diana, and the elegant Grande Galleria and the Chapel of Sant'Uberto, works of the eighteenth century by architect Filippo Juvarra; the fascinating exhibition of the history of the House of Savoy and the beautiful gardens

3 hours approximately, in English – Min 20 persons, max 25 persons (morning)

 

JUVENTUS STADIUM

The history of the Juventus football club and its importance to the everyday life of the city over more than a century through an enthralling multimedia exhibition and tour.

2 hours approximately, in English – Min 20 persons, max 25 persons (morning)

 

WALKING TOUR IN HISTORICAL CAFES

Turin has wonderful cafés, but did you know that part of Italian history was written in them by statesmen such as the Count of Cavour and Giovanni Giolitti and authors such as Alexandre Dumas? Find out who ate and drank where as you sample the coffee, chocolate and Bicerin, a drink typical of Turin.

2 hours approximately, in English – Min 15 persons, max 25 persons (morning)

 

TORINO UNDERGROUND AND APERITIF

The galleries, crypts and lower regions of the old town and Baroque palaces of Turin, followed by an aperitif.

2 hours approximately, in English – Min 15 persons, max 29 persons (late afternoon)

 

MYSTERY AND HISTORY - Tour in the Torino Magica

An intriguing evening tour showing a different history of an older, more mysterious Turin.

2 hours 30 minutes approximately, in English – Min 15 persons, max 50 persons (evening)

 

Full Day Tour of the Langhe

LANGA DISCOVERY

Part of southern Piedmont, between the Monferrato and Liguria, the Langhe is a landscape of hills and vineyards, and also the home of precious white truffles, cheeses and other wonderful products.

Full Day tour, in English – Min 15 persons, max 50 persons

For further information please contact the Ventana Group office direct. Please note that all tours, locations listed and prices (which are in euros) are subject to availability and possible change.

Ventana Group Head Office
Corso Marconi,10
10125 Torino (TO)
Italy

T +39 011 5622766
F +39 011 5622384

[email protected]

 

 

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