The Historical Museum of the Cavalry Corps is located in Pinerolo, inside the antique Barracks Prince Amedeo ( now General Fenulli) built at the request and expense of the city starting from 1845.
The vast exposure of relics, that is enriched with new donations day by day, makes it one of the richest Army Museums in Europe. In using the spaces and organizing the evidences, it was realized ahistorical thread characterized by logical and chronological sense.
At the ground floor they have been collected carts, wagons, saddles, caparisons and it has been recreated a regimental farriery.
At the first floor you can see Banners, Flags, bronzes, silvers, paintings, printed materials, photographs, decorations and a rich collection of uniforms that date back from the period between the starting of the Wars for the National Risorgimento to present.
The second floor is dedicated to the Colonial Campaigns and to the two World Wars; one of its two galleries has been used for the exposure of the melee weapons and firearms, African and European.
Of particular interest is the Cultural Centre constituted by a Military Library and a Horse Library, that house the important and rare works dating back from the 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th century, and the Photo Library whit a rich photographic documentation about the School and the Army from 1861 to present.
In the Historical Museum of the Cavalry Army (3 exposure floors, about 5000 sq.m. wide, 33 rooms) the attentive visitor can be follow three different itineraries:
- The first itinerary focuses on the development of the Italian Cavalry uniform, from 1861 to present, that can be observed in hundreds of antique photographs with captions put in order on 18 level exhibitors.
- The second one approaches the subject of uniforms, headgear and accessories used from the Unification of Italy to present; they are illustrated through Military Newspapers of that time and through the reproduction of the synoptic tables preserved in two hundred showcases.
- The third itinerary is dedicated to the Medals, Decorations and Chivalry Orders used to award Officers of the Sardinian Army at first and of the Royal Army later. They have data sheets.
The Museum is much visited by school groups and organized groups, not only from Piemonte; it is also visited by foreign groups, testifying how the Cavalry School is known abroad.
In fact, in the years between the early twentieth century and the outbreak of the World War II, this Institution hosted the best knights from 33 Nations that arrived to Pinerolo in order to learn the new method of mounting a horse invented by Captain Federigo Caprilli from Livorno.
At the centre of the old town you can visit the Cathedral, with a fifteenth-century gothic structure, and the Civic Art Collection in Vittone Palace, situated in Vittorio Veneto square.