Travelling with Napoleon: places associated with the French emperor

Napoleon has left an indelible mark on his passage on our peninsula. In 1796 Napoleon was in command of the Italian Army in the war against the Hapsburg Empire, and it was during this conflict that he went as far as Rome. The events that have occurred belong to the history of our country that we all studied at school, but many aspects are not told on school books.

Many places and buildings have been directly or indirectly involved in the conflict with the Austrians, covering a very important importance for the Napoleonic campaign, hosted for a long time Napoleon and his soldiers.

Napoleon’s places in Italy

The Palazzina di caccia Stupinigi in Stupinigi, near Turin, is a building that is part of the circuit of the Savoy Residences in Piedmont, a serial site proclaimed World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Napoleone stayed at the Palazzina, from 5 to 16 May 1805, before going to Milan to wrap the Iron Crown. The Palazzina today can be visited as a museum where the park with the labyrinth and the pond is particularly interesting.

North of Turin, near Bard, you can stay at the Forte Bard, which besides being a hotel is also a renowned restaurant. This structure remembers with regret the passage of Napoleon, as the French leader, to conquer the stronghold, he demolished a large part of the structure (then rebuilt in the 1930s).

Also in the area of north Turin it is possible to stay at the Castle of San Giuseppe in the homonymous locality near Chiaverano. The Castle of San Giuseppe is now a 4-star hotel housed within seventeenth-century walls located in a striking morainic amphitheater surrounded by small lakes. Napoleon Bonaparte conquered it in 1796 to turn it into a military fortress.

Near Lake Como you can visit two beautiful villas that have woven their history with that of Napoleon Bonaparte.Villa Pliniana in Torno is a building dating back to 1577 that overlooks the lake in an isolated bay near the town. The villa can be visited and also houses a wellness center and SPA. Villa Olmo is located in the southern part of the lake, under the province of Como, and is the most famous and sumptuous of the historic Como residences. The building can be visited and has an Italian garden at the front and the English park.

Lake Garda also hosted the French leader, who stayed at the Locanda Punta San Vigilio in Garda. The evocative setting of Punta San Vigilio is the setting for over 500 years at the homonymous Locanda, which is today among the oldest hotels in Italy.

Near Padua, along the Brenta Riviera, it is possible to visit Villa Pisani, also called the National one, which is one of the most famous examples of Venetian villas. The Villa is located in Stra, in the province of Venice, and overlooks the Naviglio del Brenta. Today it is home to a national museum, which preserves works of art and furnishings from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Napoleon Bonaparte conquered it in 1807 to give it to the viceroy of Italy Eugenio Beauharnais.