The Medieval Castle at the Valentino was built to host the Ancient Art section of the 1884 Turin Expo: along the Po river and surrounded by walls, the richly furnished castle rises above a small cluster of houses and workshops.

The buildings and the decorations are faithful copies of 15th century castles as most indications for the furniture and the settings came from the Civic Museum of Ancient Art. Within this great exhibition,that was meant to promote the industrial,technological and business development of the city, the medieval castle was intended as an educational and promotional tool.
The idea of the organizing Committee was to offer an artistic and evocative example of the Gothic style which characterized 15th century in Piedmont: a century of cultural and economic growth that blossomed under the duchy of Amedeo VIII, leaving many important monuments throughout the region that needed to be preserved and enhanced, as most of them were still unknown, even to scholars.
Such models of taste and technique were presented as a precious lesson for the local industry and handicraft, to encourage the production of historically inspired works of high artistic level.
Many scholars, historians, technicians and artists of the time took part in the planning of the castle.