Turin

The Mole Antonelliana, symbol of the city, stands majestically, with its height of 167 metres, among the expanse of royal residences, stately homes and monuments that tell the story of this elegant and aristocratic Piedmont city, the first capital of the Kingdom of Italy.

 

The historic heart of Turin is Piazza Castello, the political and administrative centre of the old capital of the Savoy Kingdom. In the centre of the square, Palazzo Madama catches the eye with its spectacular Baroque façade, the work of Filippo Juvarra. Nearby is Palazzo Reale (Royal Palace), which tells the story of the House of Savoy, the first rulers of the Kingdom of Italy. The palace was the official residence of the family until 1865, and inside it house numerous works of art and the spectacular ’scissors stairway’.

 

 

Turin is also known as the city of the Shroud, the linen sheet that was supposed to have wrapped the body of Christ after he was taken down from the cross: the city is very proud of this asset, which was preserved for a great many decades in the Chapel of the Holy Shroud, a masterpiece by Guarino Guarini, adjacent to the Palazzo Reale and accessible from the Cathedral, where it is kept today; each year the relic is shown to the public at events known in Italian as “ostensioni” (from the Latin ostendere meaning to show).

 

 

 

Piazza Carignano is the home of the historic Ristorante del Cambio, a restaurant frequented on an almost daily basis by Cavour, where you can see the table at which he used to sit.

 

Don’t miss a visit to the Egyptian Museum of Turin, the most important Egyptian museum in the world after that of Cairo: here you can admire artefacts such as statues of pharaohs or gods, mummies, household items, grave goods and much more besides. A large number of Egyptologists still study the relics from this important museum, which gave rise to the quote “the road to Memphis and Thebes passes through Turin”.

 

 

But Turin is not just about history. The city has some wonderful places for a gentle stroll, such as beneath the spacious porticoes which, along Via Po, connect Piazza Castello to Piazza Vittorio Veneto, one of the largest squares in the world, overlooking the Po. This road is filled with antique shops, bookshops and old coffee bars, such as the famous Caffè Fiorio, with its original furnishings, which was once the regular meeting place of intellectuals and politicians of the Risorgimento.

 

Castle of Valentino. Photo: Copyright © Sisterscom.com / Rostislav Glinsky / Shutterstock

 

Also on the topic of walks, plenty of opportunity is offered by the Parco del Valentino, the oldest and most famous park in the city with tree-lines avenues and cycle paths, as well as the Botanical Garden, which contains over 4,000 species of local flora and herbs. The park of the fairytale-like Castello del Valentino, with its pointed French-style roofs, was once the site of feasts, tournaments and river battles, which were much loved by the first royal lady, Christine of France.

 

 

The Savoy court were certainly not averse to a feast or hunting expedition, and Vittorio Amedeo commissioned from his trusted architect Filippo Juvarra, on the edge of the city, in Stupinigi, the construction of a hunting lodge, one of the most beautiful in the world and well worth visiting.

 

Even the gastronomy of the area is renowned, and without forgetting that Turin, with its ‘gianduiotti’, is the Italian capital of chocolate, there are also other local specialities that are worth trying, such as the asparagus of Santena, unavailable elsewhere, and Plaisentif, known as the ‘cheese of violets’ from Upper Val Chisone and Upper Val di Susa. The local wines are also unbeatable, and these include the Erbaluce di Caluso and the ice wines of the Susa valleys. It is with good reason that every two years the Salone Internazionale del Gusto (International Exhibition of Taste) takes place in the city.

 

 

The Museum of Oriental Art was opened in 2008 and is housed in the Palazzo Mazzonis. The collection of the MAO includes about 1,500 works from South Asia, China, Japan, the Himalayan Region and the Islamic countries of Asia, all divided into different sections on sundry floors.
www.maotorino.it