The Savoys' riverside palace, half French chateau and half Piedmontese castle, sits at the upstream end of Parco del Valentino. Christina of France, regent of Savoy and a daughter of Henri IV, gave it its steep slate roofs and corner pavilions in the 1630s; the building has the look of a Loire chateau dropped beside an Italian river.
It now houses the architecture faculty of the Polytechnic, which means the interior is mostly off-limits except during occasional open days. The exterior, the riverside terrace and the formal garden are best seen at sunset, when the warm river light turns the brickwork pink.