Susa Unveiled: The Savoys in Susa – Two Weddings, One City

An evening in Susa, strolling through the streets of the historic center. At every corner, in every courtyard, the city has something to tell: Susa Svelata is a way to discover it on foot. Now in its third year, the festival returns in 2026 with seven events between May and September, each with its own theme and itinerary.

Each evening is accompanied by a guide who leads the audience through the city's sights, accompanied by costumed actors who join the narrative along the way: their role is to inhabit the story, comment on it, and add a point of view not found in any written guide. The audience walks, listens, observes, and is sometimes surprised by a joke or a detail that changes the way they've just looked at something. Regular evenings are divided into two sessions: an early evening session starting at 5:30 PM and an evening session starting at 8:00 PM, each lasting approximately 90 minutes. Some dates have different schedules, depending on local events with which the festival collaborates.

Susa Svelata was conceived by Artemide and is being developed in collaboration with Revejo ETS, the management body of the Castello di Adelaide – Museo Civico Archeologico Città di Susa, the venue and starting point of each itinerary. The theatrical narration is by DDT – Disagiata Distilleria Teatrale; tours are led by tour guide Stella Dicasagrande. The project enjoys the patronage and collaboration of the City of Susa and the Susa Pro Loco, and collaborates with the Superintendence of Archaeology, Fine Arts, and Landscape for the Metropolitan City of Turin on dates associated with the European Archaeology and Heritage Days, a relationship that has accompanied the event since its inception.

It begins on May 23 with I Savoia a Susa – Due Matrimoni, Una Città: an evening that recounts Susa through two marriages separated by more than seven hundred years, yet linked by a common thread. The first was that of Adelaide of Susa and Odo of Savoy, which took place around 1046: a union silent in documents but powerful in its consequences, which gave rise to the House of Savoy as we would know it for eight centuries. Adelaide was a daughter of this land, heir to the March of Turin and the Susa Valley. The second marriage took place on May 31, 1750, when Infanta Maria Antonia Fernanda of Bourbon-Spain married Victor Amadeus of Savoy in Oulx, a few kilometers from Susa. Seven hundred years after the first marriage, the descendants of Adelaide and Odo were kings, and the bride arrived from the other end of Europe with four hundred guests in her entourage. The castle that the public passes through that evening is physical evidence of that historical span: Adelaide's medieval mullioned windows are still visible within the eighteenth-century structure built for the wedding in 1750. The tour begins with the exhibition "The Savoys. A Thousand Years of History and Power" at the Castle and extends to Porta Savoia and its surroundings. Tours are available at 5:30 PM and 8:00 PM.

On June 14th, the event ties in with the European Archaeological Days with a nighttime visit to Adelaide Castle, organized in collaboration with the ABAP Superintendency for the Metropolitan City of Turin. When the site is emptied of natural light, the history of the city's oldest layers emerges differently. The evening includes a welcoming aperitif for the first visit at 7:30 PM; from 8:30 PM, visits will begin every 40 minutes based on reservations received.

On June 27th and 28th, Susa Svelata becomes the pre-event for the Borgate dal Vivo Arena concerts: participants discover the monuments of the historic center on a guided tour starting at 5:30 PM and ending at 7:15 PM, then reach the Arena and enjoy the food area before the evening shows. This way of experiencing the festival begins two hours before the concert, exploring the city's thousand-year history. Participation in the walk does not grant access to the concert, which must be purchased separately.

On July 10th, the theme is In Hoc Signo Vinces – Faith and Power: churches, symbols, religious orders, and ecclesiastical institutions that have shaped Susa's urban landscape through the centuries, on a date that ties in with the theme of the city's Historical Tournament. On August 22nd, it's the turn of Gente che Viene e Gente che Va: Susa is depicted as an Alpine crossroads, a place of transit and encounter between different peoples, cultures, and eras: a history that still speaks to us today. Both dates feature regular tours starting at 5:30 PM and 8:00 PM.

On September 13th, for the first edition of Piccoli Mondi, the new festival dedicated to street theater and families, Susa Svelata is offering an event designed for children and their families: the city is told through the right language and pace for a young audience. The tour will take place in the afternoon, and will be scheduled in consultation with the festival organizers.

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Castle - Civic Museum of Susa - Susa