WELCOME TO CAVOUR CASTLE
IN SANTENA

The residence of Camillo Cavour, the statesman who made Italy

«(Cavour) made a united and independent Italy his objective, above all because he believed unity and independence were essential conditions for progress, civilization, and also because only a united, independent Italy would be able to affirm its values in Europe and be driven by the latter towards growth»
From a speech held by Mario Draghi in Santena on 23 January 2017
«See then, gentlemen, how reforms carried out at the right time, actually strengthen authority, rather than weaken it; instead of fuelling the revolutionary spirit, they reduce it to impotence»
From a speech given by Camillo Cavour to the House on 7 March 1850
«The press, we openly proclaim, is a fundamental means to civilization and progress for people; without it, modern societies, whatever their political system, would be stationary, or rather, would move backwards»
From an article by Camillo Cavour published on Il Risorgimento on 15 January 1848
«Your congressman will have to, as much as he possibly can, work to spread the benefits of primary education, still so limited, and to improve secondary education, which currently so badly meets the needs of society»
From an article by Camillo Cavour published on Il Risorgimento on 13 April 1848
«I think civilization in Africa will be a great, generous endeavor, and at the same time useful for already civilized countries»
From a letter dated 5 March 1829 from Camillo Cavour to Jean-Jacques de Sellon d’Allaman
«I had to draw from Cavour to write my thesis when in the academic year 1945-1946 I was graduating, taking my second degree in Law. The title of the thesis was “The freedom of religious minorities in Italian ecclesiastical law”»
From a speech held by Carlo Azeglio Ciampi in Santena on 25 September 2007
«It is easier to fall in love with Garibaldi, Braveheart, or Che Guevara. But Cavour is Utopia descending on Earth, reincarnated in a concrete project»
From an article by Massimo Gramellini published on La Stampa on 6 June 2011
«We could choose the way; we preferred that of resolution and audaciousness; we cannot stop halfway; it is for us a vital condition, an unavoidable alternative: progress or perish. I fully trust you will complete your work with the greatest of modern deeds, sanctioning the tunnelling of the Moncenisio»
From a speech held by Camillo Cavour in the House on 27 June 1857
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Cultural events

17 March,
Day celebrating National Unity,
the Constitution, the Anthem and the Flag

On 17 March 1861 King Vittorio Emanuele II took on the title of King of Italy for himself and for his descendants. Every year on 17 March – the day celebrating National Unity, the Constitution, the Anthem and the Flag – Santena Council, Fondazione Camillo Cavour and Associazione “Amici della Fondazione Cavour” celebrate the importance of that date.

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6 June,
Anniversary of the death
of Camillo Cavour

On 6 June 1861 Camillo Benso di Cavour, the first Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Italy, died in Torino. On this date, every year Fondazione Camillo Cavour and Associazione “Amici della Fondazione Cavour” commemorate the philosophy and work of this celebrated statesman.

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20 September,
Camillo Cavour Prize

On 20 September 1870 the Italian army entered Rome ending the Pope’s temporal power. Every year since 2007, on this date, Fondazione Camillo Cavour and Associazione “Amici della Fondazione Cavour” award the Camillo Cavour Prize.

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Camillo Cavour

Cavour and Santena: an indissoluble bond

6 June 1886. Sunday. On that day, celebrating the Albertine Statute – as the Constitution of the Kingdom of Italy was known – the Gazzetta Piemontese newspaper published an article on its front page simply and concisely titled: CAVOUR. Exactly 25 years had gone by since the statesman’s death, and that anniversary marked a victory for the Piedmontese paper: as for the other fathers of the homeland, Vittorio Emanuele II, Garibaldi and Mazzini, every year celebrations were organized with popular pilgrimages to their tombs (the Pantheon in Rome, Caprera in Sardinia and Staglieno in Genoa respectively), so the Turin-based paper had managed to raise public awareness among politicians and the general public so that on that special day, June 6th, Cavour would also be remembered with a solemn ceremony held in Santena, the Count’s last place of residence.
Biography
History
Quotes
Camillo Cavour’s grandparents:

Marquess Giuseppe Filippo and Filippina de Sales of Savoy
Camillo Cavour’s parents:

Marquess Michele and Adele de Sellon of Geneva

Cavour and his family

When Camillo Cavour was born in Turin on 10 August 1810 in his family’s 18th century palace, the French ruled Piedmont. It was the peak of Napoleon’s empire, and his supremacy extended over most of Europe. After little more than a decade History had changed its course, both on a large scale, and on a small one. Let’s take a step back , because it is important to understand its dynamics, in order to best place in time an event as important as the Count’s birth.

At the end of the 18th century the French nation born of the Revolution, which had taken down the Bastille and beheaded Luigi XVI, had started a continental war to export, on the tip of a bayonet, its principles of freedom, equality and brotherhood, and to defend itself from the reaction of the powers that felt threatened by them, like Austria, Russia, and England, horrified by the Phrygian hat, the ominous symbol of that chaos. Many monarchies had fallen to the sound of the Marseillaise; many trees of freedom had been raised on public squares to represent the end of tyranny.

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Archive and library

The library is an important testament over the centuries of this family’s high cultural level, and its archive also includes the history of the great families of Piedmont such as the Carron of San Tommaso, the Lascaris of Ventimiglia, the Alfieri and Visconti Venosta.
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Cavour tours

The Cavour Centre is part of an integrated international network of tours, an organic system of museums including other historic European seats of power, part of Cavour’s family and intellectual homeland, as well as historically important places of the Risorgimento.
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Films and TV

There are not many films, TV series or TV programs dedicated to this famous Piedmontese statesman. This section will include all the video material regarding Camillo Cavour, his family, and the places where he spent his life.
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Contacts

Fondazione Camillo Cavour Santena

  • Piazza Visconti Venosta 2 - 10026 Santena (TO)
  • (+ 39) 011 59 73 73 – (+39) 011 94 92 578
  • info@fondazionecavour.it
  • fondazionecavour@pec.it
  • Monday to Friday: 8.30 - 13.00 and 14.00 - 18.00 (office hours)
    To visit the Cavour Memorial please go to the “Visits” section.
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  • YouTube Channel

Santena Cavour Castle

Santena Cavour Park