Capital 1861–1865
The first parliament of the Kingdom of Italy met in Palazzo Carignano, and on 17 March 1861 Victor Emmanuel II became King of Italy. Four years later the capital moved to Florence. Here you'll find out how it came about, what the Museo del Risorgimento shows and where to find the traces in the city.
| Topic | Info |
|---|---|
| Capital of Italy | Turin from 1861 to 1865, then Florence, Rome from 1871 |
| Proclamation | Law of 17 March 1861: Victor Emmanuel II assumes the title “King of Italy” |
| Parliament | Chamber of Deputies in Palazzo Carignano, Senate in Palazzo Madama |
| Museum | Museo Nazionale del Risorgimento Italiano, entrance Piazza Carlo Alberto 8 |
| Opening hours | Tue–Sun 10:00–18:00, last entry 17:00, closed on Mondays |
| Official admission | €12.00 standard, audio guide as a web app included |
| Torino Card | free admission |
For centuries Turin had been the seat of the House of Savoy and the capital of the Kingdom of Sardinia. In 1848 King Charles Albert granted a constitution, the Statuto Albertino. He chose Palazzo Carignano as the seat of the new Chamber of Deputies. The Senate met in Palazzo Madama on Piazza Castello.
Through wars, Garibaldi's expedition to the south and plebiscites, the Kingdom of Sardinia grew by 1861 to cover almost the entire peninsula. The old chamber of the Subalpine Parliament was too small for the many new deputies. So the engineer Amedeo Peyron built a temporary chamber of wood and iron in the courtyard of Palazzo Carignano in 113 days, with around a thousand seats.
On 18 February 1861 King Victor Emmanuel II opened the first parliament of unified Italy there with a speech from the throne. The Senate voted 129 to 2 on 26 February for the law founding the kingdom, and the Chamber of Deputies on 14 March. The law of 17 March 1861 has just one article: the king assumes for himself and his successors the title “King of Italy”.
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 1679 | Guarino Guarini designs Palazzo Carignano for the Princes of Savoy-Carignano. |
| 1848 | Statuto Albertino. The ballroom of Palazzo Carignano becomes the Chamber of Deputies of the Subalpine Parliament. |
| 28 December 1860 | Last session in the chamber of the Subalpine Parliament – the clock and date can still be seen there today. |
| 18 February 1861 | Opening of the first Italian parliament in the temporary chamber in the courtyard of Palazzo Carignano. |
| 17 March 1861 | Law no. 4671: Victor Emmanuel II becomes King of Italy, Turin is the capital. |
| 6 June 1861 | Death of Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour, in Turin. |
| 15 September 1864 | September Convention with France: the capital is to be moved to Florence. |
| 21/22 September 1864 | Protests on Piazza San Carlo and Piazza Castello; soldiers fire into the crowd. |
| 11 December 1864 | Law no. 2032 on moving the capital within six months. |
| 1865 | Florence becomes the capital. In April 1865 the temporary chamber in Turin is demolished. |
| 1864–1871 | Construction of the large chamber for the Italian Chamber of Deputies in Palazzo Carignano – it is never used as a parliament. |
| 1871 | Rome replaces Florence as the capital. |
| 1938 | The Museo Nazionale del Risorgimento moves into Palazzo Carignano. |
Sources: Museo Nazionale del Risorgimento, Camera dei deputati, Residenze Reali Sabaude, the City of Turin's MuseoTorino.
Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour, was born in Turin on 10 August 1810 and died there on 6 June 1861 – less than three months after the kingdom was founded. From 1852 he was head of government of the Kingdom of Sardinia, and in 1861 of the new Kingdom of Italy. He is regarded as the diplomat of unification: he used alliances, plebiscites and Garibaldi's expedition south to turn the Kingdom of Sardinia into the Kingdom of Italy.
You'll come across him in several places in Turin:
In 1861 Rome still belonged to the Papal States and was protected by French troops. In the September Convention of 15 September 1864, Italy agreed with Napoleon III that France would withdraw its soldiers from Rome within two years and Italy would move its capital from Turin to Florence within six months.
In Turin the news caught people completely off guard. The city council protested, and the newspapers spoke of betrayal. On 21 and 22 September 1864 angry crowds gathered on Piazza San Carlo and Piazza Castello. Soldiers charged with bayonets and fired into the crowd. According to MuseoTorino, the city's history portal, around 50 demonstrators died and about 130 were injured. The exact figures vary from source to source.
The law of 11 December 1864 confirmed the move. In 1865 Florence became the capital, and the king, government and parliament left Turin. In April 1865 the temporary chamber in the courtyard of Palazzo Carignano was demolished. Finally, in 1871, Rome became the capital.
Guarino Guarini designed Palazzo Carignano in 1679 for Emanuele Filiberto of Savoy-Carignano. The curved brick façade on Piazza Carignano draws on Bernini's design for the Louvre and is considered one of the masterpieces of Piedmontese Baroque. Charles Albert and his son Victor Emmanuel II, the first King of Italy, were both born in the palace.
Walk once around the building and you'll see a completely different façade on Piazza Carlo Alberto. For the parliament of the larger kingdom, Domenico Ferri and Giuseppe Bollati had the old gardens cleared from 1864 and new wings built with a large chamber. By the time it was completed in 1871, parliament had long since moved to Florence, and shortly afterwards to Rome. The chamber was never used as a parliament.
Today there are two separate visits in Palazzo Carignano, with separate tickets:
The museum tells the story of Italian unification from a political, military, cultural and economic angle – in 30 rooms with more than 2,500 objects. It is the only museum of the Risorgimento recognised as being of national importance.
In 1848 Carlo Sada converted the oval ballroom into the first Chamber of Deputies in just over a month. It is the only parliamentary chamber from 1848 that survives intact in Europe, and a national monument. The clock shows the last session: 28 December 1860, 14:30.
The large chamber for the parliament of the Kingdom of Italy was built between 1864 and 1871. Francesco Gonin painted the vaults, and four large battle paintings of the Risorgimento hang on the walls.
Documents, paintings, weapons, uniforms and mementoes of Cavour, Garibaldi, Mazzini and many others. There are also temporary exhibitions; the current programme is on the museum's website.
Every ticket includes the audio guide as a web app on your smartphone. You get the QR code at the ticket desk. There are audio guides for visually impaired visitors, as well as video guides in Italian Sign Language.
The museum is open Tuesday to Sunday from 10:00 to 18:00. Last entry is at 17:00, and it is closed on Mondays. You can get tickets at the ticket desk or online in the official ticket shop.
| Ticket | Official admission |
|---|---|
| Adults | €12.00 |
| Reduced (65 and over, groups of 10 or more, military) | €10.00 |
| Family (up to 4 people, including 2 adults) | €20.00 |
| Ages 20 to 26 | €6.00 |
| Ages 6 to 19 | €4.00 |
| Under 6, people with disabilities + companion, teachers | free |
| Torino + Piemonte Card, Abbonamento Musei | free |
Official prices according to museorisorgimentotorino.it, as of October 2026. Special exhibitions and public holiday opening: museorisorgimentotorino.it.
The museum itself offers a guided tour on Saturdays and Sundays at 15:30. You pay admission plus €4.00 per person, and places are limited; book in advance via the museum's website. Guided tours in various languages are possible on request. You can plan these bookable tours flexibly:
Two hours through the Museo del Risorgimento including the chamber of the Subalpine Parliament, followed by a drink in a historic café. Admission and headsets are included, special exhibitions are not. Languages: Italian, English. Meeting point in front of the museum. Free cancellation up to 3 days in advance according to the provider.
from €59.00
Details & booking
Two hours in a small group to Piazza San Carlo, Piazza Carignano and Piazza Castello with Palazzo Reale and Palazzo Madama, as far as the Mole. No museum visit. Languages: English, Italian. Free cancellation up to 24 hours in advance according to the provider.
from €39.00
Details & booking
Palazzo Madama, Palazzo Reale, the cathedral, Piazza San Carlo, Piazza Carignano and the Quadrilatero Romano, with espresso and giandujotti. Meeting point Piazza Castello. Languages: English, Greek, Italian, Polish. Free cancellation up to 24 hours in advance according to the provider.
from €87.00
Details & bookingThe bookable museum tour specifically on the Risorgimento is available in Italian and English according to the provider.
With the Torino + Piemonte Card, admission to the Museo del Risorgimento is free, as it is to the Appartamenti dei Principi in the same palace (there with compulsory booking). Right next door, the card also gets you into the Egyptian Museum, Palazzo Madama and the Musei Reali for free.
According to Turismo Torino, the Royal Pass is valid for the Appartamenti dei Principi. The museum's price page lists free admission with the “Royal Card”. It's best to check with the museum in advance whether your Royal Pass is also valid for the museum.
All the places are close together in the old town, so you can easily walk the route. Ideally, start in the morning at the museum; it is closed on Mondays. Allow about two hours for the museum.
Start at the museum entrance at Piazza Carlo Alberto 8, in front of the 19th-century façade. Inside the museum you'll see the chamber of the Subalpine Parliament and the never-used chamber of the Italian parliament.
This is where the temporary chamber stood in 1861, in which the first Italian parliament met. From the courtyard you can see Guarini's curved central wing.
Piazza Carignano lies in front of the Baroque brick façade. Opposite the palace you'll find Del Cambio, the deputies' “vice-parliament”. On the same piazza is the Gelateria Pepino, which in 1939 invented the first chocolate-coated ice cream on a stick.
Via Accademia delle Scienze takes you to Piazza Castello. From 1848 the Senate of the Subalpine Parliament met in Palazzo Madama, followed by the first Senate of the Kingdom of Italy. Today it houses the Museum of Ancient Art; it is closed on Tuesdays. Right next to it are the Palazzo Reale and the Musei Reali.
Walk along Via Roma to Piazza San Carlo. This square and Piazza Castello were the scene of the bloody protests against the move to Florence in September 1864. Under the arcades is Caffè San Carlo, dating from 1822, a meeting place of the Risorgimento era. More on the historic cafés: Chocolate, Bicerin and cafés.
Via Lagrange brings you to Via Cavour and Palazzo Cavour, the statesman's home. You can only go inside during exhibitions.
The route ends on Piazza Carlo Emanuele II, the “Piazza Carlina”, at Giovanni Duprè's marble monument to Cavour. From here it is not far to the Mole Antonelliana.
The museum is right in the old town; the entrance is at Piazza Carlo Alberto 8.
The museum is fully accessible, with adapted toilets.
Who were Charles Albert and Victor Emmanuel II, and where did the Savoys leave their mark in Turin and Piedmont? You can read all about the ruling family that gave Italy its first kings on our House of Savoy page.
From 1861 to 1865. With the law of 17 March 1861, Victor Emmanuel II became King of Italy, and Turin was the capital of the new state. In 1865 the capital moved to Florence, and in 1871 to Rome.
Because of the September Convention of 15 September 1864 with France. France agreed to withdraw its troops from Rome; Italy undertook to move its capital to Florence within six months. According to the city's history portal, around 50 people died in protests in Turin on 21 and 22 September 1864.
From 18 February 1861 the Chamber of Deputies met in a temporary chamber in the courtyard of Palazzo Carignano, and the Senate in Palazzo Madama. The temporary chamber was demolished in April 1865.
Yes. The 1848 chamber of the Subalpine Parliament is part of the route through the Museo del Risorgimento, as is the large chamber built for the Italian parliament. You don't need a separate ticket for it.
Tuesday to Sunday from 10:00 to 18:00, last entry at 17:00. It is closed on Mondays. Which museums in Turin are open on Mondays is on our Museums on Monday page.
Official admission costs €12.00, reduced €10.00. Ages 20 to 26 pay €6.00, ages 6 to 19 €4.00, and the family ticket costs €20.00. Admission is free for under-6s. The audio guide is included.
Yes, admission is free with the Torino + Piemonte Card, and also with the Abbonamento Musei. The Appartamenti dei Principi on the ground floor are also free with the card, but you have to book in advance there.
Yes: the museum tour with café on this page is available in Italian and English. The audio guide is included in the ticket. On request, the museum organises guided tours in various languages.
The museum doesn't give a duration. For 30 rooms with the audio guide, allow about two hours; the guided tour on this page also takes two hours.
In Palazzo Carignano in Turin, like his father Charles Albert before him. The Chamber of Deputies that made him King of Italy in 1861 later met in the same palace.