CIPA 2005 XX International Symposium, 26 September - 01 October, 2005, Torino, Italy, 
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A GIS FOR THE MONITORING OF THE HYDRAULIC SYSTEM OF THE 
ROYAL RACCONIGI PARK 
E. Agosto'*’, M. Macera ( \ F. Rinaudo 1 ’ 
DITAG, Politecnico di Torino, 10129 Torino, Italy - eros.agosto@nolito.it - fulvio.rinaudo@polito.it 
l ** ) Architecture and Landscape Safeguard Office of Piemonte, 10129 Torino, Italy 
KEY WORDS : GIS, Cultural, Heritage, Monitoring, Preservation 
ABSTRACT 
The importance of decision making tools is evident when managing properties with a territorial range; it becomes even more 
important when dealing with objects of historic and artistic value. The Architecture and Landscape Safeguard Office in Piedmont 
manages the Royal Caste and Park in Racconigi, a site mentioned in the UNESCO world heritage list. A restoration project of the 
hydraulic system of the Park has recently been started; the interventions were necessary to keep the system functioning: since it was 
first constructed, it has tended to fill with earth, and some canals have become completely obstructed. The aim of the works was to 
recreate the planimetric situation that was documented in an 1839 historic map, and to improve it by having the sections replanned by 
experts. These interventions required a correct knowledge of the whole Park morphology and the geometry of the canals and lakes; 
the works would also have led to great changes that should be properly documented and maintained in time. A cooperation between 
the Architecture and Landscape Safeguard Office and the Politecnico di Torino Geomatics research group was started. The goal was 
to develop a GIS that could help in the project, both in planning and in documenting the site changes. This GIS was also important to 
weigh the benefits offered by a GIS in the management of the entire site. The GIS project was an occasion to coordinate different 
activities: a survey campaign made it possible to create a reliable geometric base on which to overlay historical studies and hydraulic 
simulations. The tool also makes it possible to check the evolution of the works in the park, and to monitor the status of the hydraulic 
system. A specific tool was created for the easy management of the surveyed hydraulic sections; this tool makes it possible to quickly 
evaluate the need for maintenance interventions by estimating the volume of material that has to be moved. 
1. INTRODUCTION 
The town of Racconigi is located in the north west of Italy, 
about thirty kilometers South of Turin. The Royal Park and 
Castle are part of the so-called system of “corone di delizie” 
(crowns of delights), a group of royal residences that surrounds 
Turin, the former capital city of first the Savoia Kingdom and 
later then Italy. These residences have recently been included in 
the world heritage list by UNESCO (1999). 
The Racconigi Park was not a simple place of pleasure for the 
king, it was also a productive centre. Evidence of this fact is the 
presence of a mill near the castle, and of a building called the 
‘Casino del Cacio' (‘cheese building’); there are also 
documents stating it was a farming centre, especially in the 
northern fields, near the farm called la Margaria. The role of 
the water and the hydraulic system in the Park has always been 
important. Besides the need of supplying the Park with water, it 
was very important to control the amount of water given to the 
surrounding area and the productive activities: the mills, and 
silk factories. 
The great attention paid by the Racconigi masters to the 
hydraulic system of the Park was first of all due to economic 
reasons, and then to pleasure and landscape planning ones. 
Many famous architects worked in the Park; the historic 
evolution came to an end, during the reign of King Carlo 
Alberto, when the park assumed its present definitive form. 
After the last expansion, with the creation of the Great Lake, the 
system started to show a trend to be filled with earth, due to the 
very slow speed the water had and because of the slimmy water 
of the Maira stream. This fact, together with the lack of 
maintenance works in the period of the second world war and 
the difficult years that followed, led to the complete obstruction 
of some canals, and to a general decay of the whole hydraulic 
system and of the Park. 
The Architecture and Landscape Safeguard Office in Piemonte, 
which manages the site, recently started a restoration project of 
the hydraulic system of the Park. 
Figure 1. The hydraulic connection between the Park and its 
territorial context 
The first problem encountered was the lack of knowledge of 
the geometries; a hydraulic replanning was also needed; last but