Turin ( ,
Piedmontese
Piedmontese (; autonym: or , in it, piemontese) is a language spoken by some 2,000,000 people mostly in Piedmont, northwestern region of Italy. Although considered by most linguists a separate language, in Italy it is often mistakenly regard ...
: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in
Northern Italy
Northern Italy ( it, Italia settentrionale, it, Nord Italia, label=none, it, Alta Italia, label=none or just it, Nord, label=none) is a geographical and cultural region in the northern part of Italy. It consists of eight administrative regions ...
. It is the capital city of
Piedmont
it, Piemontese
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, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 =
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, demographics1_title1 =
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, demographics1_title2 ...
and of the
Metropolitan City of Turin
The Metropolitan City of Turin ( it, Città metropolitana di Torino, Piedmontese: ''Sità metropolitan-a 'd Turin'') is a metropolitan city in the Piedmont region, Italy. Its capital is the city of Turin. It replaced the Province of Turin and co ...
, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is mainly on the western bank of the
Po River
The Po ( , ; la, Padus or ; Ligurian language (ancient), Ancient Ligurian: or ) is the longest river in Italy. It flows eastward across northern Italy starting from the Cottian Alps. The river's length is either or , if the Maira (river), Mair ...
, below its
Susa Valley
The Susa Valley ( it, Val di Susa; pms, Valsusa; french: Val de Suse; oc, Val d'Ors) is a valley in the Metropolitan City of Turin, Piedmont region of northern Italy, located between the Graian Alps in the north and the Cottian Alps in the sou ...
, and is surrounded by the western
Alpine arch and
Superga
Superga is a hill situated on the south bank of the river Po to the east of Turin in north-west Italy. At above sea level, it is one of the most prominent of the hills that ring the city.
Superga is known for the Basilica of Superga and its ro ...
Hill. The population of the city proper is 847,287 (31 January 2022) while the population of the urban area is estimated by
Eurostat
Eurostat ('European Statistical Office'; DG ESTAT) is a Directorate-General of the European Commission located in the Kirchberg, Luxembourg, Kirchberg quarter of Luxembourg City, Luxembourg. Eurostat's main responsibilities are to provide statis ...
to be 1.7 million inhabitants. The
Turin metropolitan area
The Turin metropolitan area is the urban agglomeration centred on the city of Turin in the Piedmont region of north-west Italy. It is defined statistically and does not correspond to a single area of local government. Administratively it comprises ...
is estimated by the
OECD
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; french: Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques, ''OCDE'') is an intergovernmental organisation with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate e ...
to have a population of 2.2 million.
The city used to be a major European political centre. From 1563, it was the capital of the
Duchy of Savoy
The Duchy of Savoy ( it, Ducato di Savoia; french: Duché de Savoie) was a country in Western Europe that existed from 1416.
It was created when Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor, raised the County of Savoy into a duchy for Amadeus VIII. The duc ...
, then of the Kingdom of Sardinia ruled by the
House of Savoy
The House of Savoy ( it, Casa Savoia) was a royal dynasty that was established in 1003 in the historical Savoy region. Through gradual expansion, the family grew in power from ruling a small Alpine county north-west of Italy to absolute rule of ...
, and the first capital of the
Kingdom of Italy
The Kingdom of Italy ( it, Regno d'Italia) was a state that existed from 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to ...
from 1861 to 1865. Turin is sometimes called "the cradle of Italian liberty" for having been the political and intellectual centre of the ''
Risorgimento
The unification of Italy ( it, Unità d'Italia ), also known as the ''Risorgimento'' (, ; ), was the 19th-century political and social movement that resulted in the consolidation of different states of the Italian Peninsula into a single ...
''
as well as the birthplace of notable individuals who contributed to it, such as
Cavour. Although much of its political influence had been lost by
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
(having been a center of
anti-fascist
Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were ...
movements during the ''
Ventennio'' including the
Italian resistance
The Italian resistance movement (the ''Resistenza italiana'' and ''la Resistenza'') is an umbrella term for the Italian resistance groups who fought the occupying forces of Nazi Germany and the fascist collaborationists of the Italian Social ...
), Turin became a major European crossroad for industry, commerce and trade, and is part of the "industrial triangle" along with
Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
and
Genoa
Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...
. It is ranked third in Italy, after Milan and Rome, for economic strength. With a
GDP
Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced and sold (not resold) in a specific time period by countries. Due to its complex and subjective nature this measure is ofte ...
of $58 billion, the city is the world's 78th richest by purchasing power.
As of 2018, the city has been ranked by
GaWC
The Globalization and World Cities Research Network (GaWC) is a think tank that studies the relationships between world cities in the context of globalization. It is based in the geography department of Loughborough University in Leicestershire ...
as a Gamma-level
global city. Turin is also home to much of the
Italian automotive industry, hosting the headquarters of
FIAT
Fiat Automobiles S.p.A. (, , ; originally FIAT, it, Fabbrica Italiana Automobili di Torino, lit=Italian Automobiles Factory of Turin) is an Italian automobile manufacturer, formerly part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, and since 2021 a subsidiary ...
,
Lancia
Lancia () is an Italian car manufacturer and a subsidiary of FCA Italy S.p.A., which is currently a Stellantis division. The present legal entity of Lancia was formed in January 2007 when its corporate parent reorganised its businesses, but it ...
and
Alfa Romeo
Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. () is an Italian luxury car manufacturer and a subsidiary of Stellantis. The company was founded on 24 June 1910, in Milan, Italy. "Alfa" is an acronym of its founding name, "Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili." ...
.
[
The city has a rich culture and history, and it is known for its numerous ]art galleries
An art gallery is a room or a building in which visual art is displayed. In Western cultures from the mid-15th century, a gallery was any long, narrow covered passage along a wall, first used in the sense of a place for art in the 1590s. The lon ...
, restaurants, churches, palaces, opera house
An opera house is a theatre building used for performances of opera. It usually includes a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, and backstage facilities for costumes and building sets.
While some venues are constructed specifically for o ...
s, piazza
A town square (or square, plaza, public square, city square, urban square, or ''piazza'') is an open public space, commonly found in the heart of a traditional town but not necessarily a true geometric square, used for community gatherings. ...
s, parks, gardens, theatres, libraries, museums and other venues. Turin is well known for its 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 ...
, Rococo
Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...
, Neo-classical, and Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Modern ...
architecture. Many of Turin's public squares, castles, gardens and elegant '' palazzi'', such as the Palazzo Madama, were built between the 16th and 18th centuries. A part of the historical center of Turin was inscribed in the World Heritage List
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the UNESCO, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNES ...
under the name Residences of the Royal House of Savoy. In addition, the city is home to museums such as the Museo Egizio
The Museo Egizio (Italian language, Italian for Egyptian Museum) is an archaeological museum in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, specializing in Art of Ancient Egypt, Egyptian archaeology and anthropology. It houses List of museums of Egyptian antiquitie ...
and the Mole Antonelliana
The Mole Antonelliana () is a major landmark building in Turin, Italy, named after its architect, Alessandro Antonelli. A '' mole'' in Italian is a building of monumental proportions.
Construction began in 1863, soon after Italian unificati ...
, the city's architectonical symbol, which in turn hosts the Museo Nazionale del Cinema. Turin's attractions make it one of the world's top 250 tourist destinations and the tenth most visited city in Italy in 2008. The city also hosts some of Italy's best universities, colleges, academies, lycea and gymnasia, such as the University of Turin
The University of Turin (Italian: ''Università degli Studi di Torino'', UNITO) is a public research university in the city of Turin, in the Piedmont region of Italy. It is one of the oldest universities in Europe and continues to play an impo ...
, founded in the 15th century, and the Turin Polytechnic
The Polytechnic University of Turin ( it, Politecnico di Torino) is the oldest Italian Public university, public Institute of technology, technical university. The university offers several courses in the fields of Engineering, Architecture, Urba ...
. Turin is also worldwide famous for icons
An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Catholic churches. They are not simply artworks; "an icon is a sacred image used in religious devotion". The most ...
like the gianduja, the Holy Shroud
The Shroud of Turin ( it, Sindone di Torino), also known as the Holy Shroud ( it, Sacra Sindone, links=no or ), is a length of linen cloth bearing the Negative (photography), negative image of a man. Some describe the image as depicting Jesu ...
, the automobile brand FIAT and the association football
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
club
Club may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Club'' (magazine)
* Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character
* Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards
* Club music
* "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea''
Brands and enterprises
...
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 ...
, which competes with its rival Torino
Turin ( , 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 from 1861 to 1865. T ...
in the ''Derby della Mole
The Derby della Mole is the local derby played out between Turin's most prominent football clubs, Juventus and Torino. It is also known as the Derby di Torino or the Turin Derby in English. It is named after the Mole Antonelliana, a major lan ...
'', the city's derby
Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...
. The city, among other events, was one of the host cities of the 1934
Events
January–February
* January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established.
* January 15 – The 8.0 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake, Nepal–Bihar earthquake strik ...
and 1990 FIFA World Cup
The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event for a second time (the first being Me ...
s, along with hosting 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 ...
; Turin hosted 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 ...
and is hosting the tennis ATP Finals
The ATP Finals is the season-ending championship of the ATP Tour. It is the most significant event in the annual ATP calendar after the four majors as it features the top-eight singles players and top-eight doubles teams based on their results th ...
from 2021 until 2025.
History
Ancient origins
The Taurini
The Taurini were a Celto-Ligurian tribe dwelling in the upper valley of the river Po, around present-day Turin, during the Iron Age and the Roman period.
Name
They are mentioned as ''Taurĩnoí'' (Ταυρῖνοί) by Polybius (2nd c. BC), ...
were an ancient Celto-Ligurian
The Ligures (singular Ligur; Italian language, Italian: liguri; English language, English: Ligurians) were an ancient people after whom Liguria, a region of present-day Northern Italy, north-western Italy, is named.
Ancient Liguria cor ...
Alpine
Alpine may refer to any mountainous region. It may also refer to:
Places Europe
* Alps, a European mountain range
** Alpine states, which overlap with the European range
Australia
* Alpine, New South Wales, a Northern Village
* Alpine National Pa ...
people, who occupied the upper valley of the Po River
The Po ( , ; la, Padus or ; Ligurian language (ancient), Ancient Ligurian: or ) is the longest river in Italy. It flows eastward across northern Italy starting from the Cottian Alps. The river's length is either or , if the Maira (river), Mair ...
, in the center of modern Piedmont
it, Piemontese
, population_note =
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, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 =
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographics1_title1 =
, demographics1_info1 =
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.
In 218 BC, they were attacked by Hannibal
Hannibal (; xpu, 𐤇𐤍𐤁𐤏𐤋, ''Ḥannibaʿl''; 247 – between 183 and 181 BC) was a Carthaginian general and statesman who commanded the forces of Carthage in their battle against the Roman Republic during the Second Puni ...
as he was allied with their long-standing enemies, the Insubres
The Insubres or Insubri were an ancient Celtic population settled in Insubria, in what is now the Italian region of Lombardy. They were the founders of Mediolanum (Milan). Though completely Gaulish at the time of Roman conquest, they were the r ...
. The Taurini chief town (''Taurasia'') was captured by Hannibal's forces after a three-day siege. As a people they are rarely mentioned in history. It is believed that a Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
colony was established after 28 BC under the name of ''Julia Augusta Taurinorum'' (modern Turin). Both Livy
Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Ancient Rome, Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditiona ...
and Strabo
Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-sighted that he could see ...
mention the Taurini's country as including one of the passes of the Alps
The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...
, which points to a wider use of the name in earlier times.
Roman era
In the first century BC (probably 28 BC), the Romans founded ''Augusta Taurinorum''. Via Garibaldi traces the exact path of the Roman city's decumanus which began at the ''Porta Decumani'', later incorporated into the ''Castello'' or Palazzo Madama. The Porta Palatina, on the north side of the current city centre, is still preserved in a park near the cathedral. Remains of the Roman-period theatre
Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...
are preserved in the area of the ''Manica Nuova''. Turin reached about 5,000 inhabitants at the time, all living inside the high city walls.
Middle Ages
After the fall of the Western Roman Empire
The Western Roman Empire comprised the western provinces of the Roman Empire at any time during which they were administered by a separate independent Imperial court; in particular, this term is used in historiography to describe the period fr ...
, the town, along with the rest of the Italian peninsula, was conquered by the Heruli
The Heruli (or Herules) were an early Germanic people. Possibly originating in Scandinavia, the Heruli are first mentioned by Roman authors as one of several "Scythian" groups raiding Roman provinces in the Balkans and the Aegean Sea, attacking b ...
and the Ostrogoths
The Ostrogoths ( la, Ostrogothi, Austrogothi) were a Roman-era Germanic peoples, Germanic people. In the 5th century, they followed the Visigoths in creating one of the two great Goths, Gothic kingdoms within the Roman Empire, based upon the larg ...
, recaptured by the Romans
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
, but then conquered again by the Lombards
The Lombards () or Langobards ( la, Langobardi) were a Germanic people who ruled most of the Italian Peninsula from 568 to 774.
The medieval Lombard historian Paul the Deacon wrote in the ''History of the Lombards'' (written between 787 and ...
whose territory then fell into the hands of the Franks
The Franks ( la, Franci or ) were a group of Germanic peoples whose name was first mentioned in 3rd-century Roman sources, and associated with tribes between the Lower Rhine and the Ems River, on the edge of the Roman Empire.H. Schutz: Tools, ...
under Charlemagne
Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first Holy ...
(773). The '' Contea di Torino'' (countship) was founded in the 940s and was held by the Arduinic dynasty until 1050. After the marriage of Adelaide of Susa
Adelaide of Turin (also ''Adelheid'', ''Adelais'', or ''Adeline''; – 19 December 1091) was the countess of part of the March of Ivrea and the marchioness of Turin in Northwestern Italy from 1034 to her death. She was the last of the Arduin ...
with Humbert Biancamano's son Otto
Otto is a masculine German given name and a surname. It originates as an Old High German short form (variants ''Audo'', ''Odo'', ''Udo'') of Germanic names beginning in ''aud-'', an element meaning "wealth, prosperity".
The name is recorded fro ...
, the family of the Counts of Savoy
The titles of count, then of duke of Savoy are titles of nobility attached to the historical territory of Savoy. Since its creation, in the 11th century, the county was held by the House of Savoy. The County of Savoy was elevated to a duchy at ...
gained control. While the title of count was held by the Bishop as count of 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 ...
(1092–1130 and 1136–1191) it was ruled as a prince-bishopric by the Bishops. In 1230–1235 it was a lordship under the Marquess of Montferrat
The Marquises and Dukes of Montferrat were the rulers of a territory in Piedmont south of the Po and east of Turin called Montferrat. The March of Montferrat was created by Berengar II of Italy in 950 during a redistribution of power in the no ...
, styled Lord of Turin. At the end of the 13th century, when it was annexed to the Duchy of Savoy, the city already had 20,000 inhabitants. Many of the gardens and palaces were built in the 15th century when the city was redesigned. The University of Turin
The University of Turin (Italian: ''Università degli Studi di Torino'', UNITO) is a public research university in the city of Turin, in the Piedmont region of Italy. It is one of the oldest universities in Europe and continues to play an impo ...
was also founded during this period.
Early modern
Emmanuel Philibert, also known under the nickname of ''Iron Head'' (Testa 'd Fer), made Turin the capital of the Duchy of Savoy in 1563. Piazza Reale (named Piazza San Carlo
(" St. Charles Square"), previously known as , , and , is one of the main city squares in Turin, Italy. It was laid out in the 16th and 17th century and is an example of Baroque style.
The 1838 Equestrian monument of Emmanuel Philibert by Carlo ...
today) and Via Nuova (current Via Roma) were added along with the first enlargement of the walls, in the first half of the 17th century; in the same period the ''Palazzo Reale'' (Royal Palace of Turin
The Royal Palace of Turin ( it, Palazzo Reale di Torino) is a historic palace of the House of Savoy in the city of Turin in Northern Italy. It was originally built in the 16th century and was later modernized by Christine Marie of France (1606–1 ...
) was also built. In the second half of that century, a second enlargement of the walls was planned and executed, with the building of the arcaded Via Po, connecting Piazza Castello with the bridge on the Po through the regular street grid.
In 1706, during the Battle of Turin
The siege of Turin took place from June to September 1706, during the War of the Spanish Succession, when a French army led by Louis de la Feuillade besieged the Savoyard capital of Turin. The campaign by Prince Eugene of Savoy that led to i ...
, the French besieged the city for 117 days without conquering it. By the Treaty of Utrecht
The Peace of Utrecht was a series of peace treaties signed by the belligerents in the War of the Spanish Succession, in the Dutch city of Utrecht between April 1713 and February 1715. The war involved three contenders for the vacant throne o ...
the Duke of Savoy acquired Sicily
(man) it, Siciliana (woman)
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 = Ethnicity
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographi ...
, soon traded for Sardinia
Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...
, and part of the former Duchy of Milan
The Duchy of Milan ( it, Ducato di Milano; lmo, Ducaa de Milan) was a state in northern Italy, created in 1395 by Gian Galeazzo Visconti, then the lord of Milan, and a member of the important Visconti family, which had been ruling the city sin ...
, and was elevated to king; thus Turin became the capital of a European kingdom. The architect Filippo Juvarra
Filippo is an Italian male given name, which is the equivalent of the English name Philip, from the Greek ''Philippos'', meaning "amante dei cavalli".''Behind the Name''"Given Name Philip" Retrieved on 23 January 2016. The female variant is Filip ...
began a major redesign of the city; Turin had about 90,000 inhabitants at the time.
Late modern and contemporary
Turin, like the rest of Piedmont
it, Piemontese
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
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, demographics1_footnotes =
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, was annexed by the French Empire in 1802. The city thus became the seat of the prefecture
A prefecture (from the Latin ''Praefectura'') is an administrative jurisdiction traditionally governed by an appointed prefect. This can be a regional or local government subdivision in various countries, or a subdivision in certain international ...
of Pô department
Department may refer to:
* Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility
Government and military
*Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...
until the fall of Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
in 1814, when the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia was restored with Turin as its capital. In the following decades, the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia led the struggle towards the unification of Italy
The unification of Italy ( it, Unità d'Italia ), also known as the ''Risorgimento'' (, ; ), was the 19th-century Political movement, political and social movement that resulted in the Merger (politics), consolidation of List of historic stat ...
. In 1861, Turin became the capital of the newly proclaimed united Kingdom of Italy
The Kingdom of Italy ( it, Regno d'Italia) was a state that existed from 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to ...
having been the political and intellectual centre of the ''Risorgimento'' movement,[ until 1865, when the capital was moved to ]Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...
, and then to Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
after the 1870 conquest of the Papal States
The Papal States ( ; it, Stato Pontificio, ), officially the State of the Church ( it, Stato della Chiesa, ; la, Status Ecclesiasticus;), were a series of territories in the Italian Peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope fro ...
. The 1871 opening of the Fréjus Tunnel made Turin an important communication node between Italy and France. The city in that period had 250,000 inhabitants. Some of the most iconic landmarks of the city, like the Mole Antonelliana
The Mole Antonelliana () is a major landmark building in Turin, Italy, named after its architect, Alessandro Antonelli. A '' mole'' in Italian is a building of monumental proportions.
Construction began in 1863, soon after Italian unificati ...
, the Egyptian Museum
The Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, known commonly as the Egyptian Museum or the Cairo Museum, in Cairo, Egypt, is home to an extensive collection of ancient Egyptian antiquities. It has 120,000 items, with a representative amount on display a ...
, the Gran Madre di Dio church and ''Piazza Vittorio Veneto'' were built in this period. The late 19th century was also a period of rapid industrialization, especially in the automotive sector: in 1899 Fiat
Fiat Automobiles S.p.A. (, , ; originally FIAT, it, Fabbrica Italiana Automobili di Torino, lit=Italian Automobiles Factory of Turin) is an Italian automobile manufacturer, formerly part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, and since 2021 a subsidiary ...
was established in the city, followed by Lancia
Lancia () is an Italian car manufacturer and a subsidiary of FCA Italy S.p.A., which is currently a Stellantis division. The present legal entity of Lancia was formed in January 2007 when its corporate parent reorganised its businesses, but it ...
in 1906. The Universal Exposition
A world's fair, also known as a universal exhibition or an expo, is a large international exhibition designed to showcase the achievements of nations. These exhibitions vary in character and are held in different parts of the world at a specif ...
held in Turin in 1902 is often regarded as the pinnacle of Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Modern ...
design, and the city hosted the same event in 1911
A notable ongoing event was the Comparison of the Amundsen and Scott Expeditions, race for the South Pole.
Events January
* January 1 – A decade after federation, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory ...
. By this time, Turin had grown to 430,000 inhabitants.
After World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, harsh conditions brought a wave of strikes and workers' protests. In 1920 the Lingotto
Lingotto is the name of a district of Turin, Italy, as well as the name of the Lingotto building in Via Nizza. It once housed a car factory built by Italian automotive company Fiat and today houses the administrative headquarters of the manufact ...
Fiat factory was occupied. The Fascist regime put an end to the social unrest, banning trade unions and jailing socialist leaders, notably Antonio Gramsci
Antonio Francesco Gramsci ( , , ; 22 January 1891 – 27 April 1937) was an Italian Marxist philosopher, journalist, linguist, writer, and politician. He wrote on philosophy, political theory, sociology, history, and linguistics. He was a ...
. On the other hand, Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 194 ...
largely subsidised the automotive industry, to provide vehicles to the army.
Turin was then a target of Allied strategic bombing during World War II, being heavily damaged by the air raids in its industrial areas as well as in the city centre. Along with Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
, Genoa
Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...
, and La Spezia
La Spezia (, or , ; in the local Spezzino dialect) is the capital city of the province of La Spezia and is located at the head of the Gulf of La Spezia in the southern part of the Liguria region of Italy.
La Spezia is the second largest city ...
, Turin was one of Italy's four cities that experienced area bombing
In military aviation, area bombardment (or area bombing) is a type of aerial bombardment in which bombs are dropped over the general area of a target. The term "area bombing" came into prominence during World War II.
Area bombing is a form of str ...
by the RAF; the heaviest raid took place on 13 July 1943, when 295 bombers dropped 763 tons of bombs, killing 792 people. Overall, these raids killed 2,069 inhabitants of Turin, and destroyed or damaged 54% of all buildings in the city.
The Allied's campaign in Italy started off from the South
South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west.
Etymology
The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...
and slowly moved northwards in the following two years, leaving the northern regions occupied by Germans and collaborationist forces for several years. Turin was not captured by the Allies until the end of Spring Offensive of 1945. By the time the vanguard of the armoured reconnaissance units of Brazilian Expeditionary Force
The Brazilian Expeditionary Force ( pt, Força Expedicionária Brasileira, FEB), nicknamed Cobras Fumantes (literally "the Smoking Snakes"), was a military division of the Brazilian Army and Air Force that fought with Allied forces in the Me ...
reached the city, it was already freed by the Italian Partisans
The Italian resistance movement (the ''Resistenza italiana'' and ''la Resistenza'') is an umbrella term for the Italian resistance groups who fought the occupying forces of Nazi Germany and the fascist collaborationists of the Italian Social ...
, that had begun revolting against the Germans on 25 April 1945. Days later, troops from the US Army's 1st Armored and 92nd Infantry Divisions came to substitute the Brazilians.
In the postwar years, Turin was rapidly rebuilt. The city's automotive industry played a pivotal role in the Italian economic miracle
The Italian economic miracle or Italian economic boom ( it, il miracolo economico italiano) is the term used by historians, economists, and the mass media to designate the prolonged period of strong economic growth in Italy after the Second Worl ...
of the 1950s and 1960s, attracting hundreds of thousands of immigrants to the city, particularly from the rural southern regions of Italy. The number of immigrants was so big that Turin was said to be "the third southern Italian city after Naples
Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
and Palermo
Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...
". The population soon reached 1 million in 1960 and peaked at almost 1.2 million in 1971. The exceptional growth gains of the city gained it the nickname of ''Capitale dell'automobile'' (Automobile Capital), being often compared with Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...
, the major centre of the U.S. automobile industry (both cities has been "twinned" in 1998). In the 1970s and 1980s, the oil and automotive industry crisis severely hit the city, and its population began to sharply decline, losing more than one-fourth of its total in 30 years. The long population decline of the city has begun to reverse itself only in recent years, as the population grew from 865,000 to slightly over 900,000 by the end of the century. In 2006, Turin hosted the Winter Olympic Games
The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were he ...
.
Geography
Turin is in northwest Italy
Northwest Italy ( it, Italia nord-occidentale or just ) is one of the five official statistical regions of Italy used by the National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT), a first level NUTS region and a European Parliament constituency. Northwes ...
. It is surrounded on the western and northern front by the Alps and on the eastern front by a high hill that is the natural continuation of the hills of Monferrato
Montferrat (, ; it, Monferrato ; pms, Monfrà , locally ; la, Mons Ferratus) is part of the region of Piedmont in northern Italy. It comprises roughly (and its extent has varied over time) the modern provinces of Province of Alessandria, ...
. Four major rivers pass through the city: the Po and three of its tributaries, the Dora Riparia
The Dora Riparia (; pms, Dòira Rivaira; french: Doire Ripaire or ''Doire''; la, Duria minor) is an alpine river, a left-hand tributary of the Po. It is long (of which 5 km in France), with a drainage basin. It originates in the Cottian ...
(once known as ''Duria Minor'' by the Romans, from the Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
* Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Fo ...
noun ''duria'' meaning "water"), the Stura di Lanzo
Stura di Lanzo ( la, Varus) is a long river in north-western Italy (Piedmont), in the Metropolitan City of Turin. It is formed from several tributaries near Lanzo Torinese. It flows into the river Po in Turin.
Toponymy
The name Stura has C ...
and the Sangone
Sāngone ( Samoan: , 'tribe', Fijian: , 'child'), was the name of a turtle from divine origin and featuring in Tongan myths about the Tui Tonga king named Tuitātui in the beginning of the 12th century AD. Part of the history features prominentl ...
.
Climate
Located in northwestern Italy at the foot of the Alps
The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...
, Turin features a mid-latitude, four seasons humid subtropical climate
A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...
(Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer
* Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan
* Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...
: ''Cfa''), similar to that of Grenoble
lat, Gratianopolis
, commune status = Prefecture and commune
, image = Panorama grenoble.png
, image size =
, caption = From upper left: Panorama of the city, Grenoble’s cable cars, place Saint- ...
, located not far away in the French Alps although Turin's average annual rainfall is lower.
Winters are moderately cold and dry, summers are mild in the hills and quite hot in the plains. Rain falls mostly during spring and autumn; during the hottest months, otherwise, rains are less frequent but heavier (thunderstorms are frequent). During the winter and autumn months banks of fog, which are sometimes very thick, form in the plains but rarely on the city because of its location at the end of the Susa Valley
The Susa Valley ( it, Val di Susa; pms, Valsusa; french: Val de Suse; oc, Val d'Ors) is a valley in the Metropolitan City of Turin, Piedmont region of northern Italy, located between the Graian Alps in the north and the Cottian Alps in the sou ...
. Snowfalls are not uncommon during the winter months, although substantial accumulation is quite uncommon.
Its position on the east side of the Alps makes the weather drier than on the west side because of the föhn wind
A Foehn or Föhn (, , ), is a type of dry, relatively warm, downslope wind that occurs in the leeward, lee (downwind side) of a mountain range.
It is a rain shadow wind that results from the subsequent adiabatic warming of air that has dropped m ...
effect.
The highest temperature ever recorded was , and the lowest was .
Administration
Turin is split up into 8 borough
A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely.
History
In the Middle Ag ...
s, locally called ''circoscrizioni
''Circoscrizione'' (; plural: ''circoscrizioni'') can refer to two different administrative units of Italy. One is an electoral district approximating to the English '' constituency'' but typically the size of a province or region, depending on th ...
''; these do not necessarily correspond to the historical districts of the city, which are rather called ''quartieri
A (; plural: ) is a territorial subdivision of certain Italian towns. The word derives from (‘fourth’) and was thus properly used only for towns divided into four neighborhoods by the two main roads. It has been later used as a synonymous ...
'', ''rioni
The Rioni ( ka, რიონი, ; , ) is the main river of western Georgia. It originates in the Caucasus Mountains, in the region of Racha and flows west to the Black Sea, entering it north of the city of Poti (near ancient Phasis). The city ...
'', ''borghi'', ''borgate'' or ''zone''. The "circoscrizioni" system originally comprised 10 of them, that were reduced to 8 by merging borough 9 into 8, and 10 into 2.
The following list numerates the boroughs and the location of the historical districts inside them:
* Circoscrizione 1: Centro – Crocetta
* Circoscrizione 2: Santa Rita – Mirafiori Nord – Mirafiori Sud
* Circoscrizione 3: San Paolo – Cenisia – Pozzo Strada – Cit Turin – Borgata Lesna
* Circoscrizione 4: San Donato – Campidoglio – Parella
* Circoscrizione 5: Borgo Vittoria – Madonna di Campagna – Lucento – Vallette
* Circoscrizione 6: Barriera di Milano – Regio Parco – Barca – Bertolla – Falchera – Rebaudengo – Villaretto
* Circoscrizione 7: Aurora
An aurora (plural: auroras or aurorae), also commonly known as the polar lights, is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly seen in high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic). Auroras display dynamic patterns of bri ...
– Vanchiglia – Sassi – Madonna del Pilone
* Circoscrizione 8: San Salvario – Cavoretto – Borgo Po – Nizza Millefonti – Lingotto
Lingotto is the name of a district of Turin, Italy, as well as the name of the Lingotto building in Via Nizza. It once housed a car factory built by Italian automotive company Fiat and today houses the administrative headquarters of the manufact ...
– Filadelfia
The Mayor of Turin is directly elected every five years. The current mayor of the city is Stefano Lo Russo ( PD), elected in 2021.
Cityscape
City centre
Turin's historical architecture is predominantly 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 ...
and was developed under the Kingdom of Savoy
The Kingdom of Sardinia,The name of the state was originally Latin: , or when the kingdom was still considered to include Corsica. In Italian it is , in French , in Sardinian , and in Piedmontese . also referred to as the Kingdom of Savoy-S ...
. Nonetheless, the main street of the city centre, ''Via Roma'', was built during the Fascist era (from 1931 to 1937) as an example of Italian Rationalism
In architecture, Rationalism is an architectural current which mostly developed from Italy in the 1920s and 1930s. Vitruvius had claimed in his work ''De architectura'' that architecture is a science that can be comprehended rationally. The formu ...
, replacing former buildings already present in this area.
Via Roma runs between Piazza Carlo Felice and Piazza Castello
Piazza Castello is a city square in Turin, Italy. It is lined with museums, theaters and cafes.
Buildings around the square
*Royal Palace of Turin
*Palazzo Madama, Turin
Palazzo Madama e Casaforte degli Acaja is a palace in Turin, Piedmont. ...
. Buildings on the portion between Piazza Carlo Felice and Piazza San Carlo
(" St. Charles Square"), previously known as , , and , is one of the main city squares in Turin, Italy. It was laid out in the 16th and 17th century and is an example of Baroque style.
The 1838 Equestrian monument of Emmanuel Philibert by Carlo ...
were designed by rationalist architect Marcello Piacentini
Marcello Piacentini (8 December 1881 – 19 May 1960) was an Italian urban theorist and one of the main proponents of Italian Fascist architecture.
Biography
Born in Rome, he was the son of architect Pio Piacentini. When he was only 26, he was ...
. These blocks were built into a reticular system, composed by austere buildings in clear rationalist style, such as the impressive ''Hotel Principi di Piemonte'' and the former ''Hotel Nazionale'' in ''Piazza CLN''. Porches are built in a continuous entablature
An entablature (; nativization of Italian , from "in" and "table") is the superstructure of moldings and bands which lies horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and ...
and marked with double columns, to be consistent with those of Piazza San Carlo. The section of the street between Piazza San Carlo and Piazza Castello was built in an eclectic style, with arcades characterised by Serliana
A Venetian window (also known as a Serlian window) is a large tripartite window which is a key element in Palladian architecture. Although Sebastiano Serlio (1475–1554) did not invent it, the window features largely in the work of the Italian ar ...
-type arches. To this day Via Roma is the street featuring the most fashionable boutiques of the city.
Via Roma crosses one of the main squares of the city: the pedestrianized Piazza San Carlo, built 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 ...
in the 17th century. In the middle of the square stands the equestrian monument to Emmanuel Philibert, also known as ''Caval ëd Brons'' in the local dialect ("Bronze Horse"); the monument depicts the Duke sheathing his sword after the Battle of St. Quentin. Piazza San Carlo arcades host the most ancient cafés of the city, such as ''Caffé Torino'' and ''Caffé San Carlo''.
On the northern edge of Via Roma stands ''Piazza Castello'', regarded as the heart of the city. The half-pedestrianized square hosts some significant buildings such as ''Palazzo Reale'' (Former Savoy Royal House), the ''Palazzo Madama'' (which previously hosted the Savoy senate and, for few years, the Italian senate after Italian unification), the former Baroque Teatro Regio di Torino
The Teatro Regio (Royal Theatre) is a prominent opera house and opera company in Turin, Piedmont, Italy. Its season runs from October to June with the presentation of eight or nine operas given from five to twelve performances of each.
Several bu ...
(rebuilt in modern style in the 1960s, after being destroyed by fire), the Royal Library of Turin
The Royal Library of Turin () is a library located within the ground floor of the Royal Palace of Turin, itself a World Heritage Site in Turin, Italy.
The library contains approximately 200,000 print volumes, 4,500 manuscripts, 3,055 drawings, ...
which hosts the Leonardo da Vinci self-portrait, and the baroque Royal Church of San Lorenzo. Moreover, Piazza Castello hosts a Fascist era building, the Torre Littoria, a sort of skyscraper which was supposed to become the headquarters of the Fascist party, although it never served as such. The building's style is quite different from the Baroque style of Piazza Castello. The square regularly hosts the main open space events of the city, live concerts included.
As for the southern part of the street, Via Roma ends in ''Piazza Carlo Felice'' and in its ''Giardino Sambuy'', a wide fenced garden right in the middle of the square. Across from Piazza Carlo Felice stands the monumental façade of Porta Nuova railway station, the central station of the city built between 1861 and 1868 by the architect Alessandro Mazzucchetti. The passengers building was renovated to host a shopping mall and more efficient passenger service offices. However, it is still an example of monumental architecture, with its stately foyer and some Baroque sights, such as the ''Sala Reale'' (the former Royal waiting room).
In ''Piazza Castello'' converge some of the main streets of the city centre. Among them, one of the most significant is the arcaded ''Via Po'', built by Amedeo di Castellamonte
Amedeo Cognengo di Castellamonte (1618 – 17 September 1683) was an Italian architect, civil and military engineer.
Biography
He was born in Castellamonte (in what is now the province of Turin, then in the Duchy of Savoy). His father Carlo beca ...
in 1868 and featuring some interesting buildings, such as the first and original building of the University of Turin
The University of Turin (Italian: ''Università degli Studi di Torino'', UNITO) is a public research university in the city of Turin, in the Piedmont region of Italy. It is one of the oldest universities in Europe and continues to play an impo ...
and the historical Caffè Fiorio
The Caffè Fiorio is a historic café in Turin, northern Italy, located at Via Po 8.
Founded in 1780, Fiorio became a fashionable meeting place for the artistic, intellectual and political classes of the capital of the Kingdom of Sardinia. Frequ ...
, which was the favourite café of the 19th-century politicians. Via Po ends in Piazza Vittorio Veneto (simply called Piazza Vittorio locally), the largest Baroque square in Europe and today heart of Turin nightlife. Piazza Vittorio features the most fashionable bars and not far from here, along the Po riverfront, the ''Murazzi'' quays used to host several bars and nightclubs open until the morning until a few years ago.
Parallel to Via Roma, the other two popular pedestrian streets, namely ''Via Lagrange'' and ''Via Carlo Alberto'', cross the old town from Via Po to ''Corso Vittorio Emanuele II''. Their recent pedestrianisation has improved their original commercial vocation. In particular, Via Lagrange has recently increased the presence of luxury boutiques. This street also hosts the Egyptian Museum of Turin, home to what is regarded as one of the largest collections of Egyptian antiquities outside of Egypt.
Via Lagrange and Via Carlo Alberto cross two significant squares of the city, respectively. The former crosses ''Piazza Carignano'', well known mainly for the undulating “concave – convex-concave” Baroque façade of Palazzo Carignano
Palazzo Carignano is a historical building in the centre of Turin, Italy, which houses the Museum of the Risorgimento. It was a private residence of the Princes of Carignano, after whom it is named. Its rounded façade is different from other f ...
. This building used to host the ''Parlamento Subalpino'' (the “Subalpine Parliament”, Parliament of the Kingdom of Sardinia
The Parliament of the Kingdom of Sardinia ( it, Parlamento del Regno di Sardegna, also called ''Parlamento Subalpino'') was the bicameral parliament of the Kingdom of Sardinia. History
It was established in 1848 by the Albertine Statute and became ...
which also became the Italian Parliament for a few years, after the Italian unification) and today houses the Museum of the Risorgimento. The square also features the Teatro Carignano
The Teatro Carignano (Carignano Theatre) is a theatre in Turin and one of the oldest and most important theatres in Italy. Designed by Benedetto Alfieri, it is located opposite the Palazzo Carignano. Building commenced in 1752 and the theatre was ...
, a well-conserved Baroque theatre.
Via Carlo Alberto crosses ''Piazza Carlo Alberto'', a big square hosting the rear façade of Palazzo Carignano, in eclectic style. On the other side stands the monumental ''Biblioteca Nazionale'' (National Library).
Not far from Via Po stands the symbol of Turin, namely the Mole Antonelliana
The Mole Antonelliana () is a major landmark building in Turin, Italy, named after its architect, Alessandro Antonelli. A '' mole'' in Italian is a building of monumental proportions.
Construction began in 1863, soon after Italian unificati ...
, so named after the architect who built it, Alessandro Antonelli
Alessandro Antonelli (July 14, 1798 – October 18, 1888) was an Italian architect of the 19th century. His most famous works are the Mole Antonelliana in Turin (named for him) and both the Novara Cathedral and the Basilica of St. Gaudenzio in ...
. Construction began in 1863 as a Jewish synagogue
A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...
. Nowadays it houses the National Museum of Cinema
The National Museum of Cinema (''Museo Nazionale del Cinema'') located in Turin, Italy, is a motion picture museum fitted out inside the Mole Antonelliana tower. It is operated by the ''Maria Adriana Prolo Foundation'', and the core of its collect ...
and it is believed to be the tallest museum in the world at . The building is depicted on the Italian 2-cent coin.
Just behind ''Piazza Castello'' stands the Turin Cathedral
la, Ecclesia Sancti Johannis Baptista
, native_name = Duomo di Torino
, native_name_lang = Italian
, image = DuomoTorino.jpg
, caption = The Cathedral in 2019
, imagelink =
, pushpin map = Italy Turin
, pushpin mapsize =
, map caption = ...
, dedicated to Saint John the Baptist
John the Baptist or , , or , ;Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1994. syc, ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ ܡܲܥܡܕ݂ܵܢܵܐ, Yoḥanān Maʿmḏānā; he, יוחנן המטביל, Yohanān HaMatbil; la, Ioannes Bapti ...
, which is the major church of the city. It was built during 1491–1498 and is adjacent to an earlier bell tower
A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell tower ...
(1470). Annexed to the cathedral is the Chapel of the Holy Shroud
The Chapel of the Holy Shroud ( it, Cappella della Sacra Sindone) is a Baroque-style Roman Catholic chapel in Turin in northern Italy, constructed to house the Shroud of Turin (''Sindone di Torino''), a religious relic believed to be the burial s ...
, the current resting place of the Shroud of Turin
The Shroud of Turin ( it, Sindone di Torino), also known as the Holy Shroud ( it, Sacra Sindone, links=no or ), is a length of linen cloth bearing the negative image of a man. Some describe the image as depicting Jesus of Nazareth and bel ...
. The chapel was added to the structure in 1668–1694, designed by Guarini Guarini is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Giovanni Battista Guarini (1538–1612), Italian poet and diplomat
* Anna Guarini, Contessa Trotti, (1563–1598), Italian virtuoso singer of the late Renaissance
* Frank Jose ...
. The Basilica of Corpus Domini The Basilica of Corpus Domini () is a Roman Catholic church in Turin, Italy, built to celebrate the "Miracle of the Eucharist" which, according to various sources, occurred in 1453 during the war between the Duchy of Savoy and France.
History
The e ...
was built to celebrate an alleged miracle which took place during the sack of the city in 1453, when a soldier was carrying off a monstrance containing the Blessed Sacrament
The Blessed Sacrament, also Most Blessed Sacrament, is a devotional name to refer to the body and blood of Christ in the form of consecrated sacramental bread and wine at a celebration of the Eucharist. The term is used in the Latin Church of the ...
; the monstrance fell to the ground, while the host
A host is a person responsible for guests at an event or for providing hospitality during it.
Host may also refer to:
Places
* Host, Pennsylvania, a village in Berks County
People
*Jim Host (born 1937), American businessman
* Michel Host ...
remained suspended in air. The present church, erected in 1610 to replace the original chapel which stood on the spot, is the work of Ascanio Vitozzi
Ascanio Vitozzi (also spelled Ascanio Baschi di Vitozzo or Vittozzi) (1539–1615) was an Italian soldier, architect, and military engineer.
Born at Orvieto, the son of Ercole Lord of Montevitozzo (or Vitozzo), he fought in the Papal army in his ...
.
Next to the Turin Cathedral stand the Palatine Towers, an ancient Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
-medieval structure that served as one of four Roman city gate
A city gate is a gate which is, or was, set within a city wall. It is a type of fortified gateway.
Uses
City gates were traditionally built to provide a point of controlled access to and departure from a walled city for people, vehicles, goods ...
s along the city walls
A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or earthworks to extensive military fortifications with towers, bastions and gates ...
of Turin. This gate allowed access from north to the ''cardo
A cardo (plural ''cardines'') was a north–south street in Ancient Roman cities and military camps as an integral component of city planning. The cardo maximus, or most often the ''cardo'', was the main or central north–south-oriented street ...
maximus'', the typical second main street of a Roman town. The Palatine Towers are among the best preserved Roman remains in Northern Italy. Close to this site, the ''Piazza della Repubblica'' plays host to the biggest open market in Europe, locally known as ''mercato di Porta Palazzo'' (''Porta Palazzo'' or ''Porta Pila'' are the historical and local names of this area).
West of the Porte Palatine stands the ''Quadrilatero Romano'' (Roman Quadrilateral), the old medieval district recently renewed. The current neighbourhood is characterised by its tiny streets and its several medieval buildings and today it is popular for its '' aperitivo'' bars and its small shops run by local artisans. The hub of the Quadrilatero is ''Piazza Emanuele Filiberto''.
South of the Quadrilatero Romano stands ''Via Garibaldi'', another popular street of the city. It is a pedestrian street between Piazza Castello and ''Piazza Statuto'' which features some of the old shops of the city. Large ''Piazza Statuto'' is another example of Baroque square with arcades.
Another main street of downtown is ''Via Pietro Micca'', which starts in Piazza Castello and ends in the large ''Piazza Solferino''. The street continues in ''Via Cernaia'' up to ''Piazza XXV Dicembre'', which features the former Porta Susa
Torino Porta Susa is a railway station in Turin, northern Italy; it is the second busiest mainline station in the city, after Torino Porta Nuova. It is located in ''Corso Inghilterra''.
History
The station was built in 1868 during the expansi ...
passengers building, relocated in 2012 a little more southward. The new and larger passengers building is situated between ''Corso Bolzano'' and ''Corso Inghilterra'' and is an example of contemporary architecture, being a and glass and steel structure. Porta Susa is currently the international central station of the city (high speed trains to Paris) and it is becoming the central hub of railway transportation of the city, being the station in which local trains (so-called ''Ferrovie Metropolitane''), national trains and high-speed national and international trains converge.
Close to Via Cernaia stands the ''Cittadella'' (Citadel), in the ''Andrea Guglielminetti garden''. What remains of the old medieval and modern fortress of the city, it is a starting point for a tour into the old tunnels below the city.
San Salvario
Southeast of the city centre stands ''San Salvario'' district, which extends from ''Corso Vittorio Emanuele II'' to ''Corso Bramante'' and is delimited by the Turin-Genoa railway on the west side and by the Po river on the east side. Home to an increasing immigrants' community, the district is an example of integration among different cultures; it also features an incremented nightlife after the opening of several low-cost bars and restaurants.
San Salvario is crossed by two main roads, ''Via Nizza'' and ''Via Madama Cristina'', and just as the city centre it is characterised by the grid plan
In urban planning, the grid plan, grid street plan, or gridiron plan is a type of city plan in which streets run at right angles to each other, forming a grid.
Two inherent characteristics of the grid plan, frequent intersections and orthogona ...
typical of Turin's old neighbourhoods. The hub of the district is ''Piazza Madama Cristina'' which hosts a big open market, while several commercial activities flourish around it.
The celebrated 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 ...
is situated in the east side of San Salvario and, albeit not in downtown, it represents kind of central park of Turin. Thanks to the vicinity to the city centre, the park is very popular among the local people, during the day but also at night, because of the several bars and nightclubs placed here. From the terraces of Parco del Valentino, many sights of the hills on the other side of the river can be appreciated.
In the centre of the park stands the Castello del Valentino
The Valentino Castle ( it, Castello del Valentino) is a historic building in the northwestern Italian city of Turin. It is located in Parco del Valentino, and is the seat of the Architecture Faculty of the Polytechnic University of Turin. It is on ...
, built in the 17th century. This castle has a horseshoe shape, with four rectangular towers, one at each angle, and a wide inner court with a marble pavement. The ceilings of the false upper floors are in ''transalpino'' (i.e. French) style. The façade sports the huge coat of arms of the House of Savoy
The House of Savoy ( it, Casa Savoia) was a royal dynasty that was established in 1003 in the historical Savoy region. Through gradual expansion, the family grew in power from ruling a small Alpine county north-west of Italy to absolute rule of ...
. Today, Castello del Valentino serves as the faculty of Architecture of the ''Polytechnic University of Turin
The Polytechnic University of Turin ( it, Politecnico di Torino) is the oldest Italian public technical university. The university offers several courses in the fields of Engineering, Architecture, Urban Planning and Industrial Design, and is co ...
''.
Another cluster of buildings in the park is the ''Borgo Medioevale
The Borgo Medioevale in Turin, Italy, is an Open-air museum, open air museum and reconstructed medieval village and castle. It is located in the Parco del Valentino (Valentino Park) on the riverbank of the Po river. It was built for the 1884 Itali ...
'' (Medieval village), a replica of medieval mountain castles of Piedmont and Aosta Valley, built for the 1884 International Exhibition
A world's fair, also known as a universal exhibition or an expo, is a large international exhibition designed to showcase the achievements of nations. These exhibitions vary in character and are held in different parts of the world at a specif ...
.
Other buildings in ''Corso Massimo d'Azeglio'' include the Torino Esposizioni
Torino Esposizioni is an exhibition hall and convention centre in Turin, Italy which was primarily completed in 1948, designed by Pier Luigi Nervi.
The building is made with primarily ''ferrocemento'' and glass. Ferrocemento is a form of concrete ...
complex (Turin's exhibition hall built in the 1930s) featuring a monumental entrance with a large full height porch, a main hall designed by Pier Luigi Nervi
Pier Luigi Nervi (21 June 1891 – 9 January 1979) was an Italian engineer and architect. He studied at the University of Bologna graduating in 1913. Nervi taught as a professor of engineering at Rome University from 1946 to 1961 and is known wor ...
in reinforced concrete, and the ''Teatro Nuovo'', a theatre mostly focused on ballet exhibitions. Another building is the largest synagogue of the city, in ''Piazzetta Primo Levi'', a square. Its architecture stands in the main sight of the city, as characterised by four large towers – high – topped by four onion-shaped domes.
Crocetta
South of ''Centro'' stands the ''Crocetta'' district, considered one of the most exclusive districts of the city, because of highly rated residential buildings. At the heart of the district is the partially pedestrianised area crossed by ''Corso Trieste'', ''Corso Trento'' and ''Corso Duca D'Aosta'', plenty of some notable residential buildings in eclectic
Eclectic may refer to:
Music
* ''Eclectic'' (Eric Johnson and Mike Stern album), 2014
* ''Eclectic'' (Big Country album), 1996
* Eclectic Method, name of an audio-visual remix act
* Eclecticism in music, the conscious use of styles alien to th ...
, neo-Gothic
Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...
and Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Modern ...
style. The area was built between 1903 and 1937 replacing the old parade ground
A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually celebrations of s ...
, which was moved in the Southern part of the city.
North of this area stands the ''GAM (Galleria d'Arte Moderna)'', one of the two Museum of Modern Arts of the Turin Metro area (the second and largest one is hosted in ''Castello di Rivoli'', a former Savoy Royal castle in the suburbs). The Museum stands in front a huge monument situated in the centre of the roundabout between ''Corso Vittorio Emanuele II'' and ''Corso Galileo Ferraris'': the Monument to Vittorio Emanuele II
The Victor Emmanuel II National Monument ( it, Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II), also known as Vittoriano or Altare della Patria ("Altar of the Fatherland"), is a large national monument built between 1885 and 1935 to honour Victor Em ...
, a King of Savoy statue situated on a 39-meters high column. Next to the Museum, another significant residential building previously hosted the head office of 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 ...
, one of the two main Turin football clubs.
West of this area, the main building of Polytechnic University of Turin
The Polytechnic University of Turin ( it, Politecnico di Torino) is the oldest Italian public technical university. The university offers several courses in the fields of Engineering, Architecture, Urban Planning and Industrial Design, and is co ...
stands along ''Corso Duca Degli Abruzzi''. The 1958 building, a complex, hosts approximately 30,000 students and is considered one of the major Institutes of Technology of the country – mainly due to the vocation of the city for the industrialisation, pushed by the automotive sector. This institute recently expanded in the western district of ''Cenisia'' with additional modern buildings.
Crocetta is crossed by large and modern avenues, such as ''Corso Duca degli Abruzzi'', ''Corso Galileo Ferraris'', and ''Corso Einaudi''. These avenues feature long rows of trees, symbolic of Turin's typical urbanity. However, the most popular avenue is ''Corso De Gasperi'', which, albeit smaller than other avenues of the district, hosts one of the most fashionable open markets of the city, the so-called ''Mercato della Crocetta'', in which it is possible to find some discounted branded clothing among the more popular ones.
The Western border of Crocetta is instead an example of contemporary architecture. The huge avenue, made up of ''Corso Mediterraneo'' and ''Corso Castelfidardo'', is part of ''Spina Centrale'' boulevard and was recently built over the old railway (now undergrounded): as a result, the avenue is very large (up to ) and modern, having been rebuilt with valuable materials, including a characteristic lighting system supported by white high poles. This avenue hosts some examples of contemporary art, such as Mario Merz
Mario Merz (1 January 1925 – 9 November 2003) was an Italian artist, and husband of Marisa Merz.
Life
Born in Milan, Merz started drawing during World War II, when he was imprisoned for his activities with the ''Giustizia e Libertà'' antif ...
's ''Igloo'' fountain or the Per Kirkeby
Per Kirkeby (1 September 1938 – 9 May 2018) was a Danish painter, poet, film maker and sculptor.
Biography
By the time Kirkeby completed a masters degree in arctic geology at the University of Copenhagen in 1964, he was already part of the ...
's ''Opera per Torino'' monument in ''Largo Orbassano''.
The East side of the district is also known as ''Borgo San Secondo'' named after the church of the same name standing in ''Via San Secondo'', a major street in the neighbourhood. This is near ''Porta Nuova'' railway station and is older than the rest of the district, featuring several apartment buildings from the late 19th century, to include the birthplace and home of author Primo Levi
Primo Michele Levi (; 31 July 1919 – 11 April 1987) was an Italian chemist, partisan, writer, and Jewish Holocaust survivor. He was the author of several books, collections of short stories, essays, poems and one novel. His best-known works ...
on Corso Re Umberto. A local open market is held in ''Piazza San Secondo'' and along ''Via Legnano''. The market square also hosts the former washhouse and public baths of the neighbourhood, among the oldest examples of their kind in Turin (1905).
One of the main thoroughfares crossing Borgo San Secondo is ''Via Sacchi'', which serves as an ideal gate to the city centre: its Serlian arcades on the west side of the street (the east side is enclosed by ''Porta Nuova'' railway station service buildings) host some significant boutiques and hotels, such as the historic ''Pfatisch'' pastry shop and the ''Turin Palace Hotel'' (totally refurbished and reopened in 2015). South of ''Via Sacchi'', ''Ospedale Mauriziano'' is one of the ancient and major hospitals of the city. Going further southwards, it is possible to appreciate an interesting residential cluster of old public housing gravitating around ''Via Arquata''.
Cenisia
Bordered by ''Corso Castelfidardo'', ''Corso Vittorio Emanuele II'', ''Corso Trapani'' and ''Corso Peschiera'', this small district is mainly significant for hosting the recent expansion of Turinese Institute of Technology
An institute of technology (also referred to as: technological university, technical university, university of technology, technological educational institute, technical college, polytechnic university or just polytechnic) is an institution of te ...
'' Politecnico''. The expansion was possible after under-grounding the railway under ''Corso Castelfidardo'' and the subsequent disposal of the old buildings dedicated to the train maintenance present in this area (so-called ''Officine Grandi Riparazioni'' or ''OGR''). ''Politecnico'' expanded its facilities through two huge overpass buildings over the avenue, linked to new buildings on the west side. This cluster of buildings forms an evocative square with a unique architectural style. The main building on the west side hosts a General Motors
The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...
research centre, the ''General Motors Global Propulsion Systems'' (formerly known as ''General Motors Powertrain Europe''). ''Politecnico'' area extends until ''Via Boggio'' with further facilities hosted in the former ''OGR'' facilities. The Institute plans to further build new facilities in the current parking area.
North of ''Politecnico'' facilities, the main building of the ''OGR'' former cluster, which consists in three 180-meters long joint parallel buildings, became recently a big open space which hosts temporary exhibitions and during the hot seasons, its external spaces became a fashionable site to have a typical Italian '' aperitivo''.
North of ''OGR'', a former prison complex called ''Le Nuove'' is a significant example of old European prison building. The complex was built between 1857 and 1869 during the reign of Victor Emmanuel II. After being disposed of during the 1990s, the complex was changed into a museum and it is possible to visit its facilities.
An example of contemporary art is the heating plant in ''Corso Ferrucci'', which has been covered with aluminium panels. Another building (19th century), now abandoned, is the former Westinghouse factory of train brakes situated in ''Via Borsellino''.
The residential and business zone of the district sprawls westward, beyond the former - now demolished - customs wall (''cinta daziaria''), which previously separated the city from the mainly rural landscape that marked the outskirts of Turin until the late 19th century. Urban planning outside the local city gate
A city gate is a gate which is, or was, set within a city wall. It is a type of fortified gateway.
Uses
City gates were traditionally built to provide a point of controlled access to and departure from a walled city for people, vehicles, goods ...
(so-called ''barriera di San Paolo'') led to the construction of an industrial and working class neighborhood in the early 20th century, although factories have long been discontinued, torn down or converted to other uses nowadays. Together with ''San Paolo'' district, ''Cenisia'' hosts an extensive street market
A marketplace or market place is a location where people regularly gather for the purchase and sale of provisions, livestock, and other goods. In different parts of the world, a marketplace may be described as a '' souk'' (from the Arabic), ' ...
along ''Corso Racconigi'', which is locally known as the longest street market in Europe.
Cit Turin
The smallest district of the city is ''Cit Turin'' ("Little Turin" in Piedmontese language
Piedmontese (; autonym: or , in it, piemontese) is a language spoken by some 2,000,000 people mostly in Piedmont, northwestern region of Italy. Although considered by most linguists a separate language, in Italy it is often mistakenly regard ...
). This small triangle surrounded by ''Corso Vittorio Emanuele II'', ''Corso Francia'' and ''Corso Inghilterra'' hosts some high rated residential buildings and is regarded as a prestigious residential neighbourhood by local people.
The district features many buildings in Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Modern ...
, Art Deco
Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...
and Neo-Gothic
Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...
style. Among them, one of the most impressive and well known is the '' Casa della Vittoria'' (architect ''Gottardo Gussoni''). Another notable example is Casa Fenoglio-Lafleur
Casa Fenoglio-Lafleur (or Fenoglio-Lafleur house) is a historical building in the Liberty style located in Turin, Italy.
It is situated in the ''San Donato'' borough, a central area with significant Stile Liberty buildings and New Gothic architec ...
. Both buildings face Corso Francia.
The district is well known for its commercial vocation mainly in its two main streets, ''Via Duchessa Jolanda'' and ''Via Principi d'Acaja'', ideally crossing each other among the gardens ''Giardino Luigi Martini'', locally called ''Piazza Benefica'', which hosts a popular open market.
The district is also characterised by two massive recent buildings: the ''Palazzo di Giustizia'', Turin's new courthouse built in the 1990s (in a 350-metre long facility), and the first real skyscraper of Turin, the Torre Intesa Sanpaolo
Grattacielo Intesa Sanpaolo in Turin, Italy is a skyscraper as well as the headquarters for the banking group Intesa Sanpaolo.
Features
The building is the third tallest in the city, after the landmark Mole Antonelliana which has held the recor ...
, which house the headquarters of one of the major Italian private banks.
San Donato
''San Donato'' district is between ''Corso Francia'', ''Corso Lecce'', ''Corso Potenza'', ''Via Nole'', the ''Parco Dora'' and ''Corso Principe Oddone''. It was populated since the medieval era, but becomes bigger during the 19th century, prospering around the canal ''Canale di San Donato'', which does not exist any more, currently replaced by the central street of the district, ''Via San Donato''. Buildings in the district are relatively recent (around 1820), except for the oldest group of small houses in the ''Brusachœr'' neighbourhood (''Palazzo Forneris'' building) along ''Via Pacinotti'' near the small ''Piazza Paravia''. The conservation of the street and of this old building influences the straightness of ''Via San Donato'', which makes a slight curve to result in parallel with ''Via Pacinotti'' before ending in central ''Piazza Statuto'' square.
Main church of the district is the ''Chiesa di Nostra Signora del Suffragio e Santa Zita'', which with its height of its bell tower, is well known to be the fifth tallest structure in the city of Turin, after the Mole Antonelliana
The Mole Antonelliana () is a major landmark building in Turin, Italy, named after its architect, Alessandro Antonelli. A '' mole'' in Italian is a building of monumental proportions.
Construction began in 1863, soon after Italian unificati ...
, the Intesa-Sanpaolo skyscraper, the Torre Littoria and the two pennons of the Juventus Stadium
Juventus Stadium, known for sponsorship reasons as the Allianz Stadium since July 2017, sometimes simply known in Italy as the Stadium ( it, Lo Stadium), is an all-seater football stadium in the Vallette borough of Turin, Italy, and the home o ...
. The church is hosting the ''Istituto Suore Minime di Nostra Signora del Suffragio'' and it was promoted and designed by Francesco Faà di Bruno
Francesco Faà di Bruno (7 March 1825 – 25 March 1888) was an Italian priest and advocate of the poor, a leading mathematician of his era and a noted religious musician. In 1988 he was beatified by Pope John Paul II.See the Vatican News Servic ...
. The legend says, that he wanted to build the tallest bell tower of the town and put a clock on the top, to all the poor people to know the time for free. The small building near the church is what remains of ''Casa Tartaglino'', a small residential building which was also extended and modified by Faa di Bruno.
''Villino Cibrario'' in ''Via Saccarelli'' is another significant building designed by Barnaba Panizza in 1842. The building was equipped with a large garden which was eliminated to host the street. The neighbourhood has a high concentration of historic buildings in Art Nouveau style designed by architect Pietro Fenoglio (among the others, the prestigious ''Villino Raby'' in Corso Francia 8). Other significant buildings are the ''Villa Boringhieri'' in Via San Donato, and other Art Nouveau and Neo-Gothic buildings are situated in ''Via Piffetti'' and ''Via Durandi''.
Among the modern buildings of the district, the most significant one is, of course, the ''Torre BBPR'' Tower (which took the name from the architecture office who designed it). The building is representing the ''post-rationalism Italian architecture'' (same style of the better known Torre Velasca
The Torre Velasca (''Velasca Tower'', in English) is a skyscraper built in the 1950s by the BBPR architectural partnership, in Milan, Italy.
The tower is part of the first generation of Italian modern architecture, while still being part of the M ...
tower in the city of Milan). The tower is facing the central ''Piazza Statuto'' square.
The district is crossed by some significant avenues: on ''Corso Svizzera'', which crosses the district from North To South, faces the Business Centre ''Piero Della Francesca'', where the offices of ''Tuttosport'', one of the three national sports daily newspapers has its head offices. Also on ''Corso Svizzera'', stands one of the oldest hospitals of the city, the ''Ospedale Amedeo di Savoia'', specialised in infectious diseases. Other major avenues are ''Corso Umbria'' and ''Corso Tassoni''.
Another big avenue, which borders the district on its East, is ''Corso Principe Oddone'', which in the past was along the railway to Milan. Currently the railway has been under-grounded: the avenue will be enlarged and have same architecture style of southern ''Corso Inghilterra'' in downtown, becoming one of the major avenue of Turin. The northern part of the district was part of the former industrial district of Turin, recently reconverted to a park called ''Parco Dora''. Mainly, in ''San Donato'' the portion reconverted was the one occupied by the plant of Michelin
Michelin (; ; full name: ) is a French multinational tyre manufacturing company based in Clermont-Ferrand in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes ''région'' of France. It is the second largest tyre manufacturer in the world behind Bridgestone and la ...
(west of ''Via Livorno'') and FIAT
Fiat Automobiles S.p.A. (, , ; originally FIAT, it, Fabbrica Italiana Automobili di Torino, lit=Italian Automobiles Factory of Turin) is an Italian automobile manufacturer, formerly part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, and since 2021 a subsidiary ...
ironwork plants (on the East). Differently for other portions of ''Parco Dora'', this part has been totally reconverted to park without letting any evidence of the industrial area except for the cooling tower which stands along ''Corso Umbria'' and became a symbol of the park. Works are completed in the western area, where ''Corso Mortara'' has been closed to traffic and moved just a bit northern and covered by an artificial tunnel. It is possible to access the southern shore of the ''Dora'' river. South of the Park, an interesting architecture of different levels is hosting a new shopping mall called ''Centro Commerciale Parco Dora''. East of ''Via Livorno'', works are still partially in progress, with the Dora river still to be uncovered by a big slab, on which the FIAT
Fiat Automobiles S.p.A. (, , ; originally FIAT, it, Fabbrica Italiana Automobili di Torino, lit=Italian Automobiles Factory of Turin) is an Italian automobile manufacturer, formerly part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, and since 2021 a subsidiary ...
plants used to stand). West of ''Via Livorno'', the ''Environment Park'' is a research centre for renewable energy.
Aurora
''Aurora'' is one of the most ancient districts which developed out of the medieval city walls
A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or earthworks to extensive military fortifications with towers, bastions and gates ...
, north of the historical city centre. It stretches from downtown northern boundaries in ''Corso Regina Margherita'' (an extended and important thoroughfare of Turin) up to ''Corso Vigevano'' and ''Corso Novara'' in the North Side (namely the old excise
file:Lincoln Beer Stamp 1871.JPG, upright=1.2, 1871 U.S. Revenue stamp for 1/6 barrel of beer. Brewers would receive the stamp sheets, cut them into individual stamps, cancel them, and paste them over the Bunghole, bung of the beer barrel so when ...
boundary until the early 20th century); the western boundary is ''Corso Principe Oddone'' (now part of the ''Spina Centrale'' boulevard) and the eastern border is the Dora river.
The district was named Aurora after the so-called ''Cascina Aurora'', an old farmstead lying north of the Dora river, right at the intersection between ''Corso Giulio Cesare'' and ''Corso Emilia''. The farmstead has long been demolished and the area has been converted to office buildings, hosting the Turinese textile company ''Gruppo Finanziario Tessile'' (''GFT'') headquarters until the early 21st century.
The historical hub of the district is ''Borgo Dora'' (The "Dora Borough"), a small neighbourhood next to ''Porta Palazzo'' and enclosed by ''Corso Regina Margherita'', ''Via Cigna'', the Dora river and ''Corso Giulio Cesare''. Once known as ''Borgo del Pallone'' (literally "Ball Borough") or ''Balon'' in Piedmontese dialect (), this neighbourhood is famous for its ''mercatino del Balon'' or simply ''Balon'', the Turinese flea market
A flea market (or swap meet) is a type of street market that provides space for vendors to sell previously-owned (second-hand) goods. This type of market is often seasonal. However, in recent years there has been the development of 'formal' ...
that opens every Saturday in its tiny and twisted streets. Borgo Dora hosts several remarkable places, such as: ''Piccola Casa della Divina Provvidenza'' ("Little House of the Divine Providence"), also known as ''Cottolengo'', a well-known charitable organization which has been operating for almost 200 years in the city; ''Arsenale della Pace'' ("Arsenal of Peace"), a former weapons factory that currently hosts the headquarters of ''SERMIG'' (''Servizio Missionario Giovani''), a nonprofit association which assists poor and homeless people; ''Caserma Cavalli'' ("Cavalli Barracks"), one of the most representative buildings of the district, a former barracks topped by a clock tower which now hosts ''Scuola Holden'', a storytelling and performing arts school; the evocative ''Cortile del Maglio'' ("Mallet Courtyard"), a covered pedestrian area featuring bars and clubs. Across from Cortile del Maglio and Arsenale della Pace stands a wide pedestrian area which features a hot air balloon
A hot air balloon is a lighter-than-air aircraft consisting of a bag, called an envelope, which contains heated air. Suspended beneath is a gondola or wicker basket (in some long-distance or high-altitude balloons, a capsule), which carries p ...
, a clear allusion to the neighbourhood's old name ''Balon'': recently installed, the balloon is open to public which can now take an interesting view of the city from this new high observation point.
Right at the borders of Borgo Dora stands part of ''Porta Palazzo'' open market which hosts the New Exhibition Hall, designed by the Italian architect Massimiliano Fuksas
Massimiliano Fuksas (born January 9, 1944) is an Italian architect. He is the head of ''Studio Fuksas'' in partnership with his wife, Doriana Mandrelli Fuksas, with offices in Rome, Paris and Shenzhen.
Biography
Fuksas was born in Rome in 194 ...
. The building has replaced the ''Clothes Market'', one of the four covered pavilions of Porta Palazzo market, but unfortunately, this glass green-shaded building has been highly criticized because of its lack of usability for commercial activities, albeit an example of contemporary architecture.
Another interesting building at the borders of the neighbourhood is Porta Milano (a.k.a. ''stazione della Ciriè-Lanzo''), a former 19th-century railway station that marked the terminus of Ciriè-Lanzo railway line until the 1980s. To this day, the station is no longer in use as well as the rails up to ''Piazza Baldissera''. The station building was recently renovated and now hosts some old locomotives, even though it is not open to the public. Unfortunately, the old rails crossing the district are totally disused and neglected, adding decay to the whole area.
Borgo Dora, as many other pockets of Aurora, is characterized by the marked multi-ethnicity of its population, being home to a large community of immigrants from emerging countries.
West of Borgo Dora stands ''Rione Valdocco'' ("Valdocco neighbourhood"), enclosed by ''Via Cigna'', ''Corso Regina Margherita'', ''Corso Principe Oddone'' and the Dora river. This neighbourhood hosts the significant architecture of ''Santuario di Maria Ausiliatrice'' ("Maria Ausiliatrice Sanctuary") in the homonymous square and behind the church stands ''San Pietro in Vincoli'' old cemetery.
Overall, the main thoroughfares of the West side of Aurora are ''Via Cigna'', which crosses the district from North to South, ''Corso Vercelli'', a historical avenue starting north of the Dora river, and ''Corso Principe Oddone'', part of the long ''Spina Centrale'' boulevard that will be built over the underground Turin-Milan railway. However, the Spina Centrale project is proceeding slowly because of the lack of funds and the boulevard is still occupied by a large worksite along its span. Once completed, Aurora district will be connected to Eastern ''San Donato'', thanks to a better connection among the roads of the two adjacent districts (i.e. ''Corso Ciriè'' will continue in ''Corso Gamba'' and ''Strada del Fortino'' in ''Corso Rosai'').
As for the rest of Aurora, the district is crossed by an important thoroughfare named ''Corso Giulio Cesare'', a long boulevard that extends from Porta Palazzo up to Turin-Trieste motorway entrance in the Northern urban fringe of Turin. Other significant roads are ''Corso Palermo'', ''Via Bologna'' and ''Corso Regio Parco'', mostly in the East side of Aurora which is known as ''Borgo Rossini'' ("Rossini Borough"). Albeit not a road, the Dora river is also a significant element for the whole district, since it completely crosses it from West to East.
The area north of the river features a mix of old residential buildings and remains of former factories and facilities from the 20th century. An example are the remains of FIAT
Fiat Automobiles S.p.A. (, , ; originally FIAT, it, Fabbrica Italiana Automobili di Torino, lit=Italian Automobiles Factory of Turin) is an Italian automobile manufacturer, formerly part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, and since 2021 a subsidiary ...
''Officine Grandi Motori'' (''OGM'') in Corso Vigevano, an old factory that produced big industrial and automotive Diesel engines, a sort of symbol of the industrial history of Turin. Another disused facility is ''Astanteria Martini'' ("Martini Emergency Department") in Via Cigna, a former emergency department from the 1920s which has been lying vacant since long.
As for the old residential buildings of the area, this part of Aurora hosts the oldest public housing
Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is usually owned by a government authority, either central or local. Although the common goal of public housing is to provide affordable housing, the details, terminology, def ...
block of the city, built by ''Istituto Autonomo Case Popolari'' (''IACP'') in 1908 in lieu of an old dilapidated small farm once known as ''Chiabotto delle Merle''.
Despite its run-down look, the famous Lavazza
Luigi Lavazza S.p.A. (), shortened and stylized as LAVAZZA, is an Italian manufacturer of coffee products. Founded in Turin in 1895 by Luigi Lavazza, it was initially run from a small grocery store at Via San Tommaso 10. The business (Italian: ...
coffee company, along with ''IAAD'' School of Design, chose this part of the city as the location for their new headquarters, which will be built in a contemporary building dubbed ''Nuvola'' ("Cloud") right at the borders of ''Borgo Rossini''. Designed by the architect Gino Zucchi, this project is still a work in progress but excavations in the area revealed the remains of a medieval cemetery and an early Christian basilica; these findings will be preserved and will be shown to the public.
''Borgo Rossini'' hosts a number of businesses, for instance, the '' Robe di Kappa'' flagship store (Kappa is a noted Italian sportswear brand founded in Turin) and the ''Cineporto'' ("Cineport") a.k.a. ''La Casa dei Produttori'' ("The Filmmakers' House", which hosts the ''Turin Piedmont Film Commission Foundation'').
Vanchiglia
''Vanchiglia'' is bordered by ''Corso San Maurizio'', ''Corso Regio Parco'' and the Po river, crossed also by the Dora Riparia
The Dora Riparia (; pms, Dòira Rivaira; french: Doire Ripaire or ''Doire''; la, Duria minor) is an alpine river, a left-hand tributary of the Po. It is long (of which 5 km in France), with a drainage basin. It originates in the Cottian ...
river and by two big avenues, ''Corso Regina Margherita'' and ''Corso Tortona''.
''Borgo Vanchiglia'' is the historical district: a little triangle next to downtown, situated between ''Corso San Maurizio, Corso Regina Margherita'' and the Po river. The district is quite popular nowadays because being quite closer to the heart of Turin nightlife ''Piazza Vittorio Veneto'', many bars and restaurants opened recently in this area. However, Vanchiglia also includes the area called ''Vanchiglietta'', north of ''Borgo Vanchiglia''.
Notable church in ''Borgo Vanchiglia'' is the French neo-Gothic ''Chiesa di Santa Giulia'' situated into ''Piazza Santa Giulia''.
A notable and unusual building in the area is the so-called ''" Fetta di Polenta"'' (literally: "polenta
Polenta (, ) is a dish of boiled cornmeal that was historically made from other grains. The dish comes from Italy. It may be served as a hot porridge, or it may be allowed to cool and solidify into a loaf that can be baked, fried, or grilled. ...
slice"), formerly known as ''Casa Scaccabarozzi''. This building is where ''Corso San Maurizio'' meets ''Via Giulia di Barolo'', and it is one of the most peculiar examples of Turin architecture: a thin trapezoid 27 meters wide on ''Via Giulia Di Barolo'', 5 meters on ''Corso San Maurizio'' and just 0.70 meters wide on the opposite end. It was designed in 1840 by Alessandro Antonelli
Alessandro Antonelli (July 14, 1798 – October 18, 1888) was an Italian architect of the 19th century. His most famous works are the Mole Antonelliana in Turin (named for him) and both the Novara Cathedral and the Basilica of St. Gaudenzio in ...
for his wife, Francesca Scaccabarozzi, probably because of a bet. The curious name comes from the shape of the palace, which resembles a "slice of polenta", and also because it is painted with an ocher colour.
In the surroundings, in ''Via Vanchiglia 8'', (although in downtown and not really in ''Vanchiglia'' anymore) there is another trapezoid house, albeit with less extreme design: similarly, this building is nicknamed ''"Fetta di Formaggio"'' (cheese slice), built in 1832 for the rich ''Marchese Birago di Vische'' by the architect ''Antonio Talentino''.
Other notable buildings are the town public baths, eclectic building built in 1905 (''Corso Regina Margherita'' crossing ''Via Vanchiglia''), and the''Teatro della Caduta'' theatre, opened in 2003 in ''Via Michele Buniva 23'', which with its 45 seats is the smallest theatre in Turin and among the smallest theatres in Europe.
In Corso Regina Margherita, another notable building is the former ''Opera pia Reynero'', a charitable organization. The building was built in 1892. Being abandoned for a long time after it closed in 1996, it was then occupied by the Askatasuna Social Center, a non-profit anarchic organization, hosting since then various activities such as concerts, dinners, seminars and homeless solidarity initiatives.
North of ''Corso Regina Margherita'', district is losing the flavour and architecture typical of Turin downtown, cause a significant portion of the district was formerly occupied by factories, nowadays partially abandoned or replaced by modern buildings. A significant example was the area occupied by gas companies between Corso Regina Margherita and the Dora river, which were partially demolished to make place to the new modern Faculty of Law building (Campus "Luigi Einaudi"), designed by the architect Norman Foster
Norman or Normans may refer to:
Ethnic and cultural identity
* The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries
** People or things connected with the Norm ...
. This building was classified by the American television company CNN among the 10 most spectacular university buildings in the world. In the campus courtyard, a large wood statue representing a bull (symbol of Turin) has been erected by Mario Ceroli
Mario Ceroli (born 1938) is an Italian sculptor. His work has been exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City and the Mississippi Museum of Art in Jackson, Mississippi. One of his sculptures is on the Luigi Einaudi campus of the Univ ...
. The area hosts also a student campus.
Next to the campus, a new cycling and pedestrian bridge on the Dora river was opened on 16 April 2010, linking the campus area to ''Corso Verona''. ''Parco Colletta'' is a big park area touched by the two rivers of the district, which also hosts some sport facilities, mainly football fields and a swimming pool.
The district is completed by the '' Cimitero Monumentale'' cemetery. This huge complex (formerly known as ''Cimitero Generale'') is the largest cemetery in Turin, and among the first in Italy for the number of buried people (over 400,000). It is close to the ''Colletta'' park. The ancient part of the cemetery rises from the main entrance of Corso Novara with his octagonal shape. It contains numerous historical tombs and 12 km of arcades, enriched by artistic sculptures (that's why it is called a "monumental cemetery"). Over the years there have been subsequent extensions of the central historical body in the direction of the Colletta park. In the cemetery, there is a crematory temple built in 1882, one of the largest in Italy.
Main churches
The Santuario della Consolata
The Santuario della Madonna Consolata or, in its full name, the Church of the Virgin of the Consolation is a Marian sanctuary and minor basilica in central Turin, Piedmont, Italy. Colloquially, the sanctuary is known as ''La Consolata''.
It is loc ...
, a sanctuary much frequented by pilgrims, stands on the site of the tenth-century Monastery of St. Andrew, and is a work by Guarini. It was sumptuously restored in 1903. Outside the city are: the Basilica of Our Lady, Help of Christians built by St. John Bosco
John Melchior Bosco ( it, Giovanni Melchiorre Bosco; pms, Gioann Melchior Bòsch; 16 August 181531 January 1888), popularly known as Don Bosco , was an Catholic Church in Italy, Italian Catholic priest, educator, writer and saint of the 19t ...
, the Gran Madre built in 1818 on occasion of the return of King Victor Emmanuel I of Sardinia
Victor Emmanuel I (Vittorio Emanuele; 24 July 1759 – 10 January 1824) was the Duke of Savoy and King of Sardinia (1802–1821).
Biography
Victor Emmanuel was the second son of King Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia and Maria Antonia Ferdinand ...
and Santa Maria del Monte (1583) on Monte dei Cappuccini.
In the hills overlooking the city, the Basilica of Superga
The Basilica of Superga () is a church in Superga, in the vicinity of Turin.
History
It was built from 1717 to 1731 for Victor Amadeus II of Savoy, designed by Filippo Juvarra, at the top of the hill of Superga. This fulfilled a vow the duke ...
provides a view of Turin against a backdrop of the snow-capped Alps. The basilica holds the tombs of many of the dukes of Savoy, as well as many of the kings of Sardinia. Superga can be reached by means of the Superga Rack Railway from Sassi suburb. The Basilica of Superga was built by Amadeus II of Savoy
Amadeus II ( – 26 January 1080) was the count of Savoy from 1078 to 1080. His life is obscure and few documents mention him. During his rule, he was overshadowed by his mother, but he had good relations with the Papacy and, for a time, the Holy R ...
as an ex-voto for the liberation of Turin (1706), and served as a royal mausoleum since 1772.
Villas, parks and gardens
The most popular park in the city is 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 ...
. In 1961, during the celebrations of ''Italia61'' (Italian unification
The unification of Italy ( it, Unità d'Italia ), also known as the ''Risorgimento'' (, ; ), was the 19th-century political and social movement that resulted in the consolidation of different states of the Italian Peninsula into a single ...
centenary), an important international exhibition (''FLOR61: Flowers of the world in Turin'') took place in the park with 800 exhibitors from 19 countries. For the occasion the plan for the new lighting of the park, along with its fountains and paths, was assigned to Guido Chiarelli, the head engineer at the city hall.
Other large parks are ''Parco della Pellerina'', ''Parco Colletta'', ''Parco Rignon'', ''Parco Colonnetti'' and the University botanical gardens. Around the city are several other parks such as La Mandria Regional Park
La Mandria Regional Park is a park in the comuni of Venaria Reale and Druento, near Turin, northern Italy. Founded in 1978 by the regional council of Piedmont, it occupies a wide area between the Stura di Lanzo torrent and the north-western part ...
and the Parco della Palazzina di Caccia di Stupinigi, once hunting grounds of the Savoy, and those on the hills of Turin. Many parks are smaller, in the various districts: there is also a total of 240 playgrounds in these parks. In the early 1960s, mayor Amedeo Peyron Amedeo is an Italian language, Italian given name meaning "lover of God", "loves God", or more correctly "for the love of God" and cognate to the Latin name Amadeus (name), Amadeus and the Spanish and Portuguese Amadeo (disambiguation), Amadeo.
Peo ...
had the first garden in Italy with games for children inaugurated. According to a Legambiente
Legambiente is an Italian environmentalist association with roots in the anti-nuclear movement that developed in Italy and throughout the Western world in the second half of the '70s. Founded in 1980 as part of the ARCI, it later became a stand-a ...
report from 2007, Turin is the first Italian city as far as structures and policies on childcare are concerned. One of the most famous parks featuring a children's playground is ''Parco della Tesoriera'', which is also home to ''Andrea della Corte Municipal Music Library''; this facility is housed in Villa Tesoriera, built in 1715 and once the Royal Treasurer's residence. The park is in the Parella suburb (Turin's West Side) and hosts many concerts in summer.
Rosa Vercellana
Rosa Vercellana, 1st Countess of Mirafiori and Fontanafredda (3 June 1833 – 26 December 1885), commonly known as ‘Rosina’ and, in Piedmontese, as La Bela Rosin, was the mistress and later wife of Victor Emmanuel II, King of Italy. Despit ...
, commonly known as ''Rosina'' and, in Piedmontese
Piedmontese (; autonym: or , in it, piemontese) is a language spoken by some 2,000,000 people mostly in Piedmont, northwestern region of Italy. Although considered by most linguists a separate language, in Italy it is often mistakenly regard ...
as ''La Bela Rosin'' ("the beautiful Rosin"), was the mistress
Mistress is the feminine form of the English word "master" (''master'' + ''-ess'') and may refer to:
Romance and relationships
* Mistress (lover), a term for a woman who is in a sexual and romantic relationship with a man who is married to a ...
and later wife of King Victor Emmanuel II
Victor Emmanuel II ( it, Vittorio Emanuele II; full name: ''Vittorio Emanuele Maria Alberto Eugenio Ferdinando Tommaso di Savoia''; 14 March 1820 – 9 January 1878) was King of Sardinia from 1849 until 17 March 1861, when he assumed the title o ...
. She was made Countess of Mirafiori and Fontanafredda, but never Queen of Italy. As the Savoy family refused to allow her to be buried next to her husband in the Pantheon
Pantheon may refer to:
* Pantheon (religion), a set of gods belonging to a particular religion or tradition, and a temple or sacred building
Arts and entertainment Comics
*Pantheon (Marvel Comics), a fictional organization
* ''Pantheon'' (Lone S ...
, her children had a mausoleum built for her in a similar form and on a smaller scale in Turin, next to the road to the Castello di Mirafiori. The circular copper-domed neoclassical monument, surmounted by a Latin cross
A Latin cross or ''crux immissa'' is a type of cross in which the vertical beam sticks above the crossbeam, with the three upper arms either equally long or with the vertical topmost arm shorter than the two horizontal arms, and always with a mu ...
and surrounded by a large park, was designed by Angelo Dimezzi
Angelo is an Italian language, Italian masculine given name and surname meaning "angel", or "messenger".
People People with the given name
*Angelo Accattino (born 1966), Italian prelate of the Catholic Church
*Angelo Acciaioli (bishop) (1298– ...
and completed in 1888.[‘Parco fluviale del Po tratto torinese: Punti di Interesse’](_blank)
, Parks.it (Rome: Federazione Italiana Parchi e Riserve Natural).
Demographics
In 2009, the city proper had a population of about 910,000, which is a significant increase on the 2001 census figure. This result is due to a growing immigration from Southern Italy
Southern Italy ( it, Sud Italia or ) also known as ''Meridione'' or ''Mezzogiorno'' (), is a macroregion of the Italian Republic consisting of its southern half.
The term ''Mezzogiorno'' today refers to regions that are associated with the peop ...
and abroad. Approximately 13.5 per cent (122.946) of the population is composed of foreigners, the largest numbers coming from Romania (51,017), Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...
(22,511), Albania
Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...
(9,165), China (5,483), and Moldova
Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The List of states ...
(3,417). Like many Northern Italian cities, there is a large proportion of pensioners in comparison to youth. Around 18 per cent of the population is under 20 years of age, while 22 per cent is over 65. The population of the Turin urban area
An urban area, built-up area or urban agglomeration is a human settlement with a high population density and infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas are created through urbanization and are categorized by urban morphology as cities, t ...
totals 1.7 million inhabitants, ranking fourth in Italy, while the Turin metropolitan area
A metropolitan area or metro is a region that consists of a densely populated urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories sharing industries, commercial areas, transport network, infrastructures and housing. A metro area usually com ...
has a population of 2.2 million inhabitants. The median age is 43.7.
Economy
Turin developed as a Fordist city in the early twentieth century, which meant a shift from a service-based economy to an industry-based one. In the vein of many Fordist economies Turin's economy relies heavily upon its automotive and aerospace industries.[Carter, Donald K. (2016-03-02). ''Remaking Post-Industrial Cities: Lessons from North America and Europe''. Routledge. p. 222. .] Despite the general decline of the automotive industry since the oil crisis of 1973
The 1973 oil crisis or first oil crisis began in October 1973 when the members of the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC), led by Saudi Arabia, proclaimed an oil embargo. The embargo was targeted at nations that had supp ...
, the city still relies heavily upon its automotive industry. Since before the second world war, the automotive industry has been the largest employer in the city, and almost all exports from Turin are manufactured goods. The city serves as the headquarters to Fiat
Fiat Automobiles S.p.A. (, , ; originally FIAT, it, Fabbrica Italiana Automobili di Torino, lit=Italian Automobiles Factory of Turin) is an Italian automobile manufacturer, formerly part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, and since 2021 a subsidiary ...
(''Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino''; Turin Italian Automobiles Factory), which has since been absorbed by its parent company, the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. (FCA) was an Italian-American multinational corporation primarily known as a manufacturer of automobiles, commercial vehicles, auto parts and production systems. The Italian holding company Exor was the largest ...
group (now Stellantis
Stellantis N.V. is a multinational automotive manufacturing corporation formed in 2021 on the basis of a 50–50 cross-border merger between the Italian-American conglomerate Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) and the French PSA Group. The comp ...
) headquartered in Amsterdam, the eighth largest automotive company in the world. Turin is still home to a sizeable Fiat factory.
From the 1980s Turin diversified its economy and is shifting back towards a service economy. Tech and innovation industries are booming in Turin, which was ranked third in number of innovative startups and firms in the information-tech sector, and has some of the most patent applications to the European Patent Office
The European Patent Office (EPO) is one of the two organs of the European Patent Organisation (EPOrg), the other being the Administrative Council. The EPO acts as executive body for the organisation of any city. In 2008 the city generated a GDP
Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced and sold (not resold) in a specific time period by countries. Due to its complex and subjective nature this measure is ofte ...
of $68 billion, ranking as the world's 78th richest city by purchasing power, and 16th in Europe, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers
PricewaterhouseCoopers is an international professional services brand of firms, operating as partnerships under the PwC brand. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is considered one of the Big Four accounting ...
. Turin accounts for 8 percent of Italy's GDP. The city has been ranked in 2010 by Globalization and World Cities Research Network
The Globalization and World Cities Research Network (GaWC) is a think tank that studies the relationships between world cities in the context of globalization. It is based in the geography department of Loughborough University in Leicestershi ...
as a Global city, Gamma-level city.
Other companies operating in Turin are Maserati, Lancia
Lancia () is an Italian car manufacturer and a subsidiary of FCA Italy S.p.A., which is currently a Stellantis division. The present legal entity of Lancia was formed in January 2007 when its corporate parent reorganised its businesses, but it ...
, Alfa Romeo
Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. () is an Italian luxury car manufacturer and a subsidiary of Stellantis. The company was founded on 24 June 1910, in Milan, Italy. "Alfa" is an acronym of its founding name, "Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili." ...
, Iveco, Pininfarina, Gruppo Bertone, Bertone, Sparco, Italdesign Giugiaro, New Holland Agriculture, New Holland, Comau, Magneti Marelli, Graziano Trasmissioni, Graziano Oerlikon, Carrozzeria Ghia, Ghia, Fioravanti (automotive), Fioravanti (automotive), RAI, Rai (national broadcasting company), Banca Intermobiliare, Banca Investis, FCA Bank, Intesa Sanpaolo, Reale Mutua (finance), Invicta (company), Invicta, Kappa (company), Kappa, Superga (brand), Superga (fashion), Ferrero SpA, Ferrero, Lavazza
Luigi Lavazza S.p.A. (), shortened and stylized as LAVAZZA, is an Italian manufacturer of coffee products. Founded in Turin in 1895 by Luigi Lavazza, it was initially run from a small grocery store at Via San Tommaso 10. The business (Italian: ...
, Martini & Rossi (food & beverage), Alpitour (hospitality and tourism), TILab (ex-CSELT), and Aurora (pen manufacturer).
The city is also well known for its aerospace industry Alenia Aeronautica, Thales Alenia Space and Avio. The International Space Station modules Harmony (ISS module), Harmony, Columbus (ISS module), Columbus, Tranquility (ISS module), Tranquility, as well as the Cupola (ISS module), Cupola and all Multi-Purpose Logistics Module, MPLMs were produced in Turin. The future European launcher projects beyond Ariane 5 will also be managed from Turin by the new NGL Prime SpA, NGL company, a subsidiary of EADS (70%) and Aircraft Division of Leonardo S.p.A., Leonardo (30%).
Culture
Visual art and museums
Turin, as the former capital of the Kingdom of Sardinia and the Kingdom of Italy
The Kingdom of Italy ( it, Regno d'Italia) was a state that existed from 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to ...
, is home of the Residences of the Royal House of Savoy, Savoy Residences. In addition to the 17th-century Royal Palace of Turin, Royal Palace, built for Madama Reale Christine Marie of France (the official residence of the Savoys until 1865) there are many palaces, residences and castles in the city centre and in the surrounding towns. Turin is home to Palazzo Chiablese, the Royal Armoury of Turin, Royal Armoury, the Royal Library of Turin, Royal Library, Palazzo Madama, Palazzo Carignano
Palazzo Carignano is a historical building in the centre of Turin, Italy, which houses the Museum of the Risorgimento. It was a private residence of the Princes of Carignano, after whom it is named. Its rounded façade is different from other f ...
, Villa della Regina, and the Castello del Valentino, Valentino Castle. The complex of the Residences of the Royal House of Savoy in Turin and in the nearby cities of Rivoli, Piedmont, Rivoli, Moncalieri, Venaria Reale, Agliè, Racconigi, Stupinigi, Pollentia, Pollenzo and Govone was declared a World Heritage Sites by UNESCO in 1997. In recent years, Turin has become an increasingly popular tourist destination, ranking 203rd in the world and tenth in Italy in 2008, with about 240,000 tourist arrivals.
The Egyptian Museum of Turin specialises in archaeology and anthropology, in particular the Art of ancient Egypt, Art of Ancient Egypt. It is home to what is regarded as one of the largest collections of Egyptian antiquities outside of Egypt. In 2006 it received more than 500,000 visitors. The Museum of Oriental Art (Turin), Museum of Oriental Art houses one of the most important Asian art collections in Italy.
Other museums include the National Museum of Cinema
The National Museum of Cinema (''Museo Nazionale del Cinema'') located in Turin, Italy, is a motion picture museum fitted out inside the Mole Antonelliana tower. It is operated by the ''Maria Adriana Prolo Foundation'', and the core of its collect ...
, the Museo Nazionale dell'Automobile, the J-Museum, the Museum of Human Anatomy Luigi Rolando, the Museo delle Marionette (puppet museum) and the Museo Nazionale della Montagna (National Museum of the Mountains). Art museums include the Sabauda Gallery, the Museo Civico d'Arte Antica, Pinacoteca Giovanni e Marella Agnelli, the Accademia Albertina, and the Turin Civic Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art, Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art.
After it had been little more than a town for a long time, in 1559 the Duke Emmanuel Philibert of Savoy made Turin the capital of his domains. The Duke had the ambition to transform the city into a major artistic and cultural capital, and in the following centuries numerous artists were to work at the Savoy court, especially architects and planners like 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 ...
and his son Amedeo Castellamonte, Amedeo, Guarino Guarini and, in the 18th century, Filippo Juvarra
Filippo is an Italian male given name, which is the equivalent of the English name Philip, from the Greek ''Philippos'', meaning "amante dei cavalli".''Behind the Name''"Given Name Philip" Retrieved on 23 January 2016. The female variant is Filip ...
and Benedetto Alfieri.
As for the painting and the visual arts, Turin became a point of reference, especially in the 20th century. In the 1920s, the painter Felice Casorati (painter), Felice Casorati inspired a number of students called The group of six of Turin and these included Carlo Levi, Henry Paolucci, Gigi Chessa, Francis Menzio, Nicola Galante and Jessie Boswell. Artists born in Turin include the sculptor Umberto Mastroianni and the architect Carlo Mollino. Between the 1960s and the 1970s, the international centre of Turin (Arte Povera), the presence in the city of artists like Alighiero Boetti, Mario Merz
Mario Merz (1 January 1925 – 9 November 2003) was an Italian artist, and husband of Marisa Merz.
Life
Born in Milan, Merz started drawing during World War II, when he was imprisoned for his activities with the ''Giustizia e Libertà'' antif ...
, Giuseppe Penone, Piero Gilardi and Michelangelo Pistoletto. In those years there was a strong artistic influence of designer Armando Testa. Artists currently operating in the city include Ugo Nespolo and Carol Rama.
Music
The city's main opera house is Teatro Regio di Torino
The Teatro Regio (Royal Theatre) is a prominent opera house and opera company in Turin, Piedmont, Italy. Its season runs from October to June with the presentation of eight or nine operas given from five to twelve performances of each.
Several bu ...
, where Puccini premiered his ''La Bohème'' in 1896. It was burned down in 1936 and was rebuilt after World War II.
On 8 October 2021, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and RAI announced that the city would host 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 ...
, following Italy's victory at the contest in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, Netherlands with the song “Zitti e buoni”, performed by Måneskin. The contest took place at the Pala Alpitour, with both semi-finals of the contest took place on 10 and 12 May, and the grand final on 14 May. It was the first time that Turin has hosted the contest and the third time that Italy has hosted the contest overall, with the last being in Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
in .
Literature
A literary centre for many centuries, Turin began to attract writers only after the establishment of the court of the House of Savoy, Dukes of Savoy. One of the most famous writers of the 17th century was Giambattista Marino, which in 1608 moved to the court of Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy, Charles Emmanuel I. Marino suffered an assassination attempt by a rival, Gaspare Murtola, and was later imprisoned for a year because of gossip that he had said and written against the duke. Perhaps, because of this, in 1615 Marino left Turin and moved to France.
The main literary figures during the Baroque age in Turin were Emanuele Tesauro and Alessandro Tassoni. In the next century Torino hosted the poet Vittorio Alfieri from Asti for a while. The situation was very different in the 19th century, especially since the city became a point of reference for Italian unification and, subsequently, the capital of the Kingdom of Italy. Indeed, in those years Tommaseo, Settembrini and John Meadows (author), John Meadows resided in the city. A major literary and cultural woman of that time was Olimpia Savio. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Turin was home to writers such as Guido Gozzano, Edmondo De Amicis, Emilio Salgari and Dino Segre, the latter known by the pseudonym of Pitigrilli.
Turin had a very important role in Italian literature after World War II. A major publishing house, Giulio Einaudi, published works by authors such as Cesare Pavese, Italo Calvino, Vitaliano Brancati, Primo Levi
Primo Michele Levi (; 31 July 1919 – 11 April 1987) was an Italian chemist, partisan, writer, and Jewish Holocaust survivor. He was the author of several books, collections of short stories, essays, poems and one novel. His best-known works ...
, Natalia Ginzburg, Fernanda Pivano, Beppe Fenoglio, Carlo Fruttero and Franco Lucentini. In more recent years, writers active in the city are Giovanni Arpino, Nico Orengo, Giuseppe Culicchia, Margherita Oggero, Laura Mancinelli, Alessandra Montrucchio, Alessandro Perissinotto, Guido Quartz, Piero Soria and Alessandro Baricco. Baricco was also among the founders of the Scuola Holden, dedicated to writing techniques teaching.
In the local Piedmontese language
Piedmontese (; autonym: or , in it, piemontese) is a language spoken by some 2,000,000 people mostly in Piedmont, northwestern region of Italy. Although considered by most linguists a separate language, in Italy it is often mistakenly regard ...
has a literary tradition, with names such as Nicoletto da Torino, Ignas Isler, author of epic poems, and Eduard Calv.
Religion
The city is home to the well-known Shroud of Turin
The Shroud of Turin ( it, Sindone di Torino), also known as the Holy Shroud ( it, Sacra Sindone, links=no or ), is a length of linen cloth bearing the negative image of a man. Some describe the image as depicting Jesus of Nazareth and bel ...
: a linen cloth bearing the image of a man who appears to have suffered physical trauma in a manner consistent with crucifixion. It is kept in the royal chapel of the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist in the city centre. The shroud is one of the city's main symbols and tourist attractions, it is a symbol of Catholic devotion, religious devotion.
Science and Technology
Turin had an Astronomical observatory where was active Giovanni Plana. The scientist Amedeo Avogadro worked as a professor in Turin. The professor of Turin University Galileo Ferraris discovered the principle under electric motor during the 19 century.
In modern times, Turin hosted the CSELT telco laboratory.
Media
After Alexandria, Madrid, New Delhi, Antwerp and Montreal, Turin was chosen by UNESCO as World Book Capital for the year 2006. The Turin International Book Fair, International Book Fair is one of the most important fairs of its kind in Europe.
Turin is home to one of Italy's principal national newspapers, ''La Stampa'', and the sports daily newspaper ''Tuttosport''.
The city is also served by other publications such as the Turin editions of ''La Repubblica'', ''il Giornale'', ''Leggo'', ''City (newspaper), City'', ''Metro (Italy), Metro'' and ''E Polis Torino, E Polis''.
RAI has had a production centre in Turin since 1954.
Sports
The city has a rich sporting heritage as the home to two historically significant Association football, football teams: Juventus F.C. (founded in 1897) and Torino F.C. (founded in 1906). Juventus has the larger fan base, especially all over Italy and worldwide, while Torino enjoys a greater support in the city itself. The two clubs contest the oldest local derby, derby in Italy, the ''Derby della Mole
The Derby della Mole is the local derby played out between Turin's most prominent football clubs, Juventus and Torino. It is also known as the Derby di Torino or the Turin Derby in English. It is named after the Mole Antonelliana, a major lan ...
'' or the Turin derby.
Juventus is Football in Italy, Italy's Football records in Italy#Overall, most successful football club and one of the most winning in the world. It ranks joint twelfth in the list of the world's clubs with the most official international titles (sixth between European clubs).[Sixth most successful European club for confederation and FIFA competitions won with 11 titles. Sixth most successful club in Europe for List of UEFA club competition winners, confederation club competition titles won (11), cf. ] and was Timeline of football (soccer)#1980s, the first in association football history — remaining the only one in the world (, after the first 2022 UEFA Europa Conference League Final, UEFA Europa Conference League Final) — to have won all possible official European football, continental competitions and the List of world champion football clubs, world title.[In addition, Juventus F.C. were the first club in association football history to have won all possible confederation competitions (e.g. the international tournaments List of UEFA club competition winners, organised by UEFA) and remain the only in the world to achieve this, cf. ]
Juventus' owned ground, the Juventus Stadium
Juventus Stadium, known for sponsorship reasons as the Allianz Stadium since July 2017, sometimes simply known in Italy as the Stadium ( it, Lo Stadium), is an all-seater football stadium in the Vallette borough of Turin, Italy, and the home o ...
, was inaugurated in 2011.
The Juventus Stadium
Juventus Stadium, known for sponsorship reasons as the Allianz Stadium since July 2017, sometimes simply known in Italy as the Stadium ( it, Lo Stadium), is an all-seater football stadium in the Vallette borough of Turin, Italy, and the home o ...
hosted the 2014 UEFA Europa League Final. This was the first time the city hosted a seasonal UEFA club competition's single-match final.
Torino F.C. was founded by the union of one of the oldest football teams in Turin, Football Club Torinese (founded in 1894), with breakaways from Juventus and was the most successful team, called "Grande Torino", in the Serie A during the 1940s. In 1949, in the Superga air disaster, a plane carrying almost the whole team crashed into the Basilica of Superga
The Basilica of Superga () is a church in Superga, in the vicinity of Turin.
History
It was built from 1717 to 1731 for Victor Amadeus II of Savoy, designed by Filippo Juvarra, at the top of the hill of Superga. This fulfilled a vow the duke ...
in the Turin hills.
Torino currently plays its home games at the Stadio Olimpico di Torino, Stadio Olimpico "Grande Torino", named after the team of the 1940s, which was the host stadiums for the 1934 FIFA World Cup and the venue of the 2006 Winter Olympics, XX Winter Olympics; moreover the team recently rebuilt the historic Stadio Filadelfia, used for games of the youth teams and trainings of the first squad, and seat of the team museum.
The city hosted the final stages of the EuroBasket 1979. The most important basketball club team is the Auxilium Pallacanestro Torino, Auxilium Torino, refounded in 2009, playing in the Italian Lega Basket Serie A, LBA. In 2018 Auxilium Torino went to win its first Italian Basketball Cup ever.
Turin hosted 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 ...
in February 2006. Turin is the largest city to have ever hosted a Winter Olympics, and was the largest metropolitan area to host them at the time.[The 2002 Salt Lake City games also claims this title because at the time of the Olympics its Combined Statistical Area population was 1,516,227 and some events were held in the Provo metropolitan area of 400,209]
tables from the Census
).
. Retrieved 6 March 2009
16 May 2009.
The city was awarded with the title of European Capital of Sport 2015. The candidature sees the city strongly committed to increasing sports activities.
The city hosts the ATP Finals
The ATP Finals is the season-ending championship of the ATP Tour. It is the most significant event in the annual ATP calendar after the four majors as it features the top-eight singles players and top-eight doubles teams based on their results th ...
tennis event, from 2021 to 2025.
Cinema
Turin is the Italian city where film History of chromatography, chromatography was first established. As such, it forms the birthplace of Italian cinema. Because of its historic, geographical and cultural proximity to France, Italian filmmakers were naturally influenced by Cinema of France, French cinema and the Auguste and Louis Lumière, Lumière brothers. The first Italian cinema screening occurred in Turin in March 1896. In November 1896, Italian filmmakers performed the first cinema screening of a film before a fee-paying audience.
By the start of the 20th century (especially after 1907), a number of the first Italian films were aired in Turin. Examples include Giovanni Pastrone ''Cabiria'', in 1914, one of the first blockbuster (entertainment), blockbusters in history.
The Turin-based company Ambrosio Film, established in 1906 by Arturo Ambrosio, was one of the leading forces in Italian cinema and boosted the importance of the city as a filmmaking destination. The company, noted in particular for its historical epics, produced a large number of films until it was dissolved in 1924.
During the 1920s and 30s, Turin hosted a number of film productions and major film studios (''film houses''), such as the Itala film, Aquila (studio), Aquila and Fert Studios. Today their heritage is in the modern Lumiq Studios and Virtual Reality Multi Media Spa. Turin's prominence in Italian film continued until 1937, the year Cinecittà was inaugurated in Rome.
After World War II, the cinematic scene in Turin continued to thrive. 1956 saw the opening of the National Museum of Cinema
The National Museum of Cinema (''Museo Nazionale del Cinema'') located in Turin, Italy, is a motion picture museum fitted out inside the Mole Antonelliana tower. It is operated by the ''Maria Adriana Prolo Foundation'', and the core of its collect ...
, first housed in the Palazzo Chiablese and then, from 2000, in the imposing headquarters of the Mole Antonelliana
The Mole Antonelliana () is a major landmark building in Turin, Italy, named after its architect, Alessandro Antonelli. A '' mole'' in Italian is a building of monumental proportions.
Construction began in 1863, soon after Italian unificati ...
. In 1982 the film critic Gianni Rondolino created Festival Internazionale Cinema Giovani, which later became the Torino Film Festival.
Today Turin is one of the main cinematographic and television centres in Italy, thanks to the role of the Turin Film Commission that reports the production of many feature films, soap operas and commercials.
Turin streets were the locations where Audrey Hepburn played ''War and Peace (1956 film), War and Peace'', Michael Caine drove a Mini Cooper in ''The Italian Job'', Claudio Bisio becomes the president of the Italian Republic, Carlo Verdone set his version of ''Cinderella (2013 film), Cinderella'', Marco Tullio Giordana shot ''Piazza Fontana: The Italian Conspiracy'', Woody Allen shot ''Hannah and Her Sisters'', Cate Blanchett played ''Heaven (2002 film), Heaven'', Giovanna Mezzogiorno ''Vincere'', Marcello Mastroianni and Jacqueline Bisset ''The Sunday Woman (film), The Sunday Woman'', and Harvey Keitel ''The Stone Merchant''. Turin also became the capital of the tsar for ''The Demons of St. Petersberg''.
Cuisine
Turin is well known for its chocolate production, especially for its traditional, ingot-shaped chocolate called ''gianduiotto'', named after Gianduja (commedia dell'arte), Gianduja, a local commedia dell'arte mask. Moreover, the city is also known for the so-called ''bicerin'', a traditional hot drink made of espresso, drinking chocolate and whole milk served layered in a small rounded glass. Every year Turin organizes ''CioccolaTÒ'', a two-week chocolate festival run with the main Piedmontese chocolate producers, such as Pierre Paul Caffarel, Caffarel, Streglio, Venchi and others, as well as some big international companies, such as Lindt & Sprüngli.
As for snack food, the now popular Tramezzino, tramezzini were first served in a historic café of downtown Turin, namely ''Caffè Mulassano'', where they were devised in 1925 as an alternative to Cuisine of England, English tea sandwiches. In recent years, another trademark drink of the city is ''MoleCola'', an Italian Coca-Cola that entered production in 2012 and quickly spread both in Italy and outside its native country.
Local cuisine also features a particular type of pizza, so-called ''Pizza#Italy, pizza al padellino'' or ''Pizza#Italy, pizza al tegamino'', which is basically a small-sized, thick-crust and deep-dish pizza typically served in several Turin pizza places.
Since the mid-1980s, Piedmont has also benefited from the start of the Slow Food movement and Terra Madre, events that have highlighted the rich agricultural and vinicultural value of the Po Valley and Northern Italy
Northern Italy ( it, Italia settentrionale, it, Nord Italia, label=none, it, Alta Italia, label=none or just it, Nord, label=none) is a geographical and cultural region in the northern part of Italy. It consists of eight administrative regions ...
.
Education
Turin is home to one of Italy's oldest universities, the University of Turin
The University of Turin (Italian: ''Università degli Studi di Torino'', UNITO) is a public research university in the city of Turin, in the Piedmont region of Italy. It is one of the oldest universities in Europe and continues to play an impo ...
, including its affiliated Collegio Carlo Alberto, which ranks among the best universities in the country. Another established university in the city is the Polytechnic University of Turin
The Polytechnic University of Turin ( it, Politecnico di Torino) is the oldest Italian public technical university. The university offers several courses in the fields of Engineering, Architecture, Urban Planning and Industrial Design, and is co ...
, ranking among Top 50 universities in the world and #1 in Italy in the fields of engineering, technology and computer science ("Academic Ranking of World Universities" published by Shanghai Jiao Tong University). Turin also hosts the United Nations System Staff College, the European Training Foundation, and a campus of the ESCP Europe, ESCP business school, ranked among the 10 best business schools in Europe. Moreover, the city hosts three small English language post-secondary institutions: St. John International University, International University College of Turin, and the Turin School of Development.
Transport
The city currently has a large number of rail and road work sites. Although this activity has increased as a result of 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 ...
, parts of it had long been planned. Some of the work sites deal with general roadworks to improve traffic flow, such as underpasses and flyovers, but two projects are of major importance and will radically change the shape of the city.
One is the ''Spina Centrale'' ("Central Spine") project which includes the doubling of a major railway crossing the city, the Turin-Milan railway locally known as ''Passante Ferroviario di Torino'' ("Turin Railway Bypass"). The railroad previously ran in a trench, which will now be covered by a major boulevard running from North to South of Turin, in a central position along the city. Torino Porta Susa railway station, Porta Susa, on this section, will become Turin's main station to substitute the terminus of Torino Porta Nuova railway station, Porta Nuova with a through station. Other important stations are Torino Stura railway station, Stura, Torino Rebaudengo Fossata railway station, Rebaudengo, Torino Lingotto railway station, Lingotto and Madonna di Campagna railway stations, though not all of them belong to the layout of the Spina Centrale.
The other major project is the construction of a subway line based on the Véhicule Automatique Léger, VAL system, known as Turin Metro, Metrotorino. This project is expected to continue for years and to cover a larger part of the city, but its first phase was finished in time for the 2006 Winter Olympics, 2006 Olympic Games, inaugurated on 4 February 2006 and opened to the public the day after. The first leg of the subway system linked the nearby town of Collegno with Porta Susa in Turin's city centre. On 4 October 2007, the line was extended to Porta Nuova and then, in March 2011, to Lingotto. A new extension of the so-called ''Linea 1'' ("Line 1") is expected in the near future, reaching both Rivoli, Piedmont, Rivoli (up to Cascine Vica hamlet) in the Western belt of Turin and ''Piazza Bengasi'' in the Southeast side of the city. Furthermore, a ''Linea 2'' is in the pipeline that will connect the south-western district of Mirafiori with Barriera di Milano in the north end. In June 2018, the project entered the public consultation phase with the proposed list of 23 stations published on the city's website.
The main street in the city centre, ''Via Roma'', runs atop a tunnel built during the fascist era (when ''Via Roma'' itself was totally refurbished and took on its present-day aspect). The tunnel was supposed to host the underground line but it is now used as an underground car park. A project to build an underground system was ready in the 1970s, with government funding for it and for similar projects in Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
and Rome. Whilst the other two cities went ahead with the projects, Turin's local government led by mayor Diego Novelli shelved the proposal as it believed it to be too costly and unnecessary.
The city has an international airport known as Turin Caselle Airport, Caselle International Airport Sandro Pertini (airport code: TRN), in Caselle Torinese, about from Turin's centre – connected to the city by rail (from Dora Station) and bus (from Porta Nuova and Porta Susa railway stations).
a bicycle sharing system, the ToBike, is operational.
The metropolitan area is served by Turin metropolitan railway service.
Central districts are served by Trams in Turin, tram, lines 3,4,9 are light-rail.
Public transportation statistics
The average amount of time people spend commuting with public transit in Turin (for example, to and from work) on a weekday is 65 min. 14.% of public transit riders, ride for more than 2 hours every day. The average amount of time people wait at a stop or station for public transit is 14 min, while 19% of riders wait for over 20 minutes on average every day. The average distance people usually ride in a single trip with public transit is , while 9% travel more than in a single direction.
Notable people
International relations
Twin towns – sister cities
Turin is Sister city, twinned with:
* Chambéry, France
* Cologne, Germany
* Córdoba, Argentina, Córdoba, Argentina
* Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...
, United States
* Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg
* Gaza City, Palestine
* Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom
* Liège, Belgium
* Lille, France
* Nagoya, Japan
* Quetzaltenango, Guatemala
* Rosario, Santa Fe, Rosario, Argentina
* Rotterdam, Netherlands
* Salt Lake City, United States
* Shenyang, China
The sixth district of Turin is twinned with:
* Bagneux, Hauts-de-Seine, Bagneux, France
Cooperation agreements
Turin also cooperates with:[
* Bacău, Romania
* Barcelona, Spain
* Bethlehem, Palestine
* Campo Grande, Brazil
* Cannes, France
* Fortaleza, Brazil
* Haifa, Israel
* Harbin, China
* Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
* Kharkhorin, Mongolia
* Lyon, France
* Marseille, France
* Nantes, France
* Nice, France
* Praia, Cape Verde (municipality), Praia, Cape Verde
* Rosario, Santa Fe, Rosario, Argentina
* Saint Petersburg, Russia
* Salvador, Bahia, Salvador, Brazil
* Skopje, North Macedonia
* Shenzhen, China
* Yangon, Myanmar
* Yekaterinburg, Russia
* Zlín, Czech Republic
]
See also
* Outline of Turin
* 512 Taurinensis
References
Bibliography
External links
''City of Turin'' Official website
tourist informations
Weather Turin
How to reach Turin?
*
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{{Authority control
Turin,
Cities and towns in Piedmont
Municipalities of the Metropolitan City of Turin
Metropolitan City of Turin
Former national capitals
Capitals of former nations
Former capitals of Italy
Coloniae (Roman)
Roman towns and cities in Italy