Rivoli stands on a ridge at the mouth of the Susa valley, where the Alps give way to the plain of Turin, and the Savoy dukes liked it for exactly that reason: from the castle terrace, you can see the city to the east and the wall of mountains to the west. A fortress stood here in the Middle Ages, and in the eighteenth century the architect Filippo Juvarra began to rebuild it as a grand residence for Victor Amadeus II. The duke, who had become King of Sardinia, ended his days here in 1732, reportedly confined by his own son, and the great project was never finished.
The castle now houses the Castello di Rivoli Museum of Contemporary Art, which opened in 1984, an unexpected union of baroque shell and modern installations. The unfinished wing of the building, which Juvarra intended to be much larger, stands as a raw, brick-built mass, and the contrast with the sleek white gallery spaces inside is striking. It is part of the UNESCO listing of the Residences of the Royal House of Savoy, inscribed in 1997. The terrace, with the Alps ranged behind, is lovely at sunset.
The geology around is a gift. Rivoli sits on the edge of a morainic amphitheatre, a ring of low hills left by the great Alpine glacier that once spilled out of the Susa valley, and the area is full of ponds, woods and vineyards. Rivoli itself has forty-six thousand people, with fuel, supermarkets and plenty of restaurants, and Alpignano is nearby. Local food leans toward Piedmontese classics, with agnolotti, bagna cauda and a glass of Barbera or Freisa.
For a rider, the pleasure is in the choice. Turin's ring roads and the Susa valley highway are fast and busy, but a few minutes away the lanes of the morainic hills are quiet and winding. Further up the valley, the road climbs toward the Sacra di San Michele, the dramatic abbey on its mountaintop, and the Mont Cenis pass. Spring and autumn offer clear air and fine views, while winter fog can fill the plain for days.