UNESCO site: the Palace is located in the heart of Turin, in Piazzetta Reale 1. Former Palazzo del Vescovo, it was one of the royal residences of the Savoy family until 1865. It has been transformed by Ascanio Vitozzi (1584) for Carlo Emanuele I and then enlarged and restored with a series of works by the main architects and artists of Turin between the 18^th and the 19^th Century. The lobby leads to the piano nobile through the staircase of honour, where there are rich boardrooms, decorated with carved ceilings, stuccos, gildings and frescoes. The most fascinating rooms are the grand Hall of the Swiss, modernized by Pelagio Palagi (1835-40), the Hall of the Throne, the Hall of Coffee, the Hall of Carlo Emanuele II’s Alcove, the 19^th Century Ballroom -one of the most luxurious rooms of the palace- and the magnificent Staircase of the Scissors by Filippo Juvarra (1720).