Zoom Torino

Royal hunting lodge built from 1729, and like Veneria Reale its embellishments then got out of hand to create something a Disney princess would swoon over, grand halls and galleries and salons with putti and nymphs in industrial quantities. It houses a huge collection of Piedmontese furniture in its Rococo interiors. Outside is the Parco naturale, the hunting park and gardens, but Fritz the resident elephant has long gone.

The hilltop castle was built around 900 AD but from the 17th century had so many incomplete extensions, abandoned or wrecked by the French, that owners and architects risked being driven mad. One who did go mad was King Victor Amadeus II (1666-1732), who horrified noble society by publicly marrying his mistress here; he was deposed and incarcerated within the castle to stop him declaring war on Milan or Poland or heaven knows where. The building later became a barracks but fell derelict until restored in the 1980s. It's now a museum of contemporary art.

Rosa Vercellana (1833-1885) became the mistress of the future Victor Emmanuel II and had two children by him before she was 16. She was made a countess when his legitimate wife and queen died in 1855, and in 1869 when the king thought he himself might die, he hurriedly married Rosa. It was a morganatic marriage, so it conferred no crown or right of succession on her or her children. He survived to do the same thing over in 1877, likewise morganatic, then died. His Savoy dynasty wouldn't let this upstart floozie be buried next to him, so here lies La Bela. The neoclassical building was handed over to the city in 1970 but vandalised and fell derelict; it was restored in 2005 and now houses a public library.

"Toro" also play in Serie A. The original club was founded in 1906 and dominated until 1949, when team and staff died in the Superga air crash. They had mixed fortunes thereafter and went bust in 2005, so this is a phoenix club. The stadium, capacity 28,000, was built in the 1930s and renovated for the 2006 Winter Olympics, and for some obscure reason is no longer named for Benito Mussolini.

This castle was built as a fortress by Thomas I of Savoy, but enlarged into a pleasure palace in the mid-15th century. From the 19th century it was especially used by queen mothers and princesses. Today it houses the Carabinieri, though the castle and its apartments can be visited. Reservation required.

Striking modern building, maybe an orbiter's solar power module? - perched atop the Lingotti Centre. It houses the Agnelli's private art collection, with many big names represented.