“The Reggia di Venaria Reale outside Turin is said to have provided Louis XIV with the inspiration for his palace at Versailles. But, by the end of the 1990s, the 80 hectares (200 acres) of land surrounding it had become little more than a wasteland. But yesterday, the reconstructed gardens were reopened to the public – the latest step in what the head of the regional government, Mercedes Bresso, has called ‘the biggest restoration project under way in Europe’.”