(" St. Charles Square"), previously known as , , and , is one of the main city squares in

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. It was laid out in the 16th and 17th century and is an example of

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

style. The 1838 Equestrian monument of Emmanuel Philibert by

Carlo Marochetti Baron Pietro Carlo Giovanni Battista Marochetti (14 January 1805 – 29 December 1867) was an Italian-born French sculptor who worked in France, Italy and Britain. He completed many public sculptures, often in a neo-classical style, plus re ...

is located at the center of the square, which is surrounded by ''porticos'' designed by

Carlo di Castellamonte Carlo Cognengo di Castellamonte (1560–1641) was an Italian architect, civil and military engineer, one of the main exponents of Piedmontese Baroque. Castellamonte was born in Turin. After his studies in Rome, he returned in Piedmont where was as ...

around 1638. The twin churches of and close the southern edge of the square.

Events

The square has become a regular stage for various historical and social events, including election rallies, concerts, sports events (like the

2006 Winter Olympics The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially the XX Olympic Winter Games ( it, XX Giochi olimpici invernali) and also known as Torino 2006, were a winter multi-sport event held from 10 to 26 February 2006 in Turin, Italy. This marked the second t ...

Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football leagu ...

matches) and live TV shows. It was one of the proposed locations for the Eurovision Village at the

Eurovision Song Contest 2022 The Eurovision Song Contest 2022 was the 66th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Turin, Italy, following the country's victory at the with the song "" by Måneskin. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and h ...

, before

Parco del Valentino Parco del Valentino (also known as Valentino Park) is a popular public park in Turin, Italy. It is located along the west bank of the Po river. It covers an area of 500,000m², which makes it Turin's second largest park (Turin's largest park, the ...

was eventually chosen as the location for the village. The

Rockin' 1000 The Rockin' 1000 is a group of rock musicians primarily from Italy. Over a thousand musicians play and sing simultaneously at their concerts. The group was originally assembled in July 2015 as a way to ask the Foo Fighters to visit the town of Ces ...

pre-recorded a performance of

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...

's "

Give Peace a Chance "Give Peace a Chance" is an anti-war song written by John Lennon (originally credited to Lennon–McCartney), and recorded with the participation of a small group of friends in a performance with Yoko Ono in a hotel room in Montreal, Quebec, C ...

" in the square for the opening of the Eurovision final. On 3 June 2017, a robbery attempt followed by a loud bang caused panic, and a subsequent

stampede A stampede () is a situation in which a group of large animals suddenly start running in the same direction, especially because they are excited or frightened. Non-human species associated with stampede behavior include zebras, cattle, elephants ...

during a screening of the 2017 UEFA Champions League Final in Turin, killing three people and injuring at least 1,672. On 14 May 2019, the victims were commemorated with a plaque in the ''piazza''.

References

Piazzas in Turin {{Italy-stub