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Look at... |
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TORINO Things to see
In this page:
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Church of San Lorenzo
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| This church rises in front of the Madama Palace. One of the most beautiful in the city, it was built according to Guarini’s design in 1680. The Baroque interior, with a central plan, is richly decorated in polychrome marbles, stuccos and gold work, surmounted by a magnificent dome. |
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Duomo
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| The Turin Cathedral was built at the end of the 1400’s, in Renaissance style. The façade has three doorways and precious reliefs. The triple-naved interior contains a precious polyptych by Spanzotti. From the presbytery one can climb up to the Chapel of the Holy Shroud (Cappella della Sacra Sindone), built by Guarini between 1668 and 1694. Circular in shape, it is entirely covered in black marble with a typical cone-shaped Baroque dome. On the altar one finds the urn holding the sacred shroud, the sheet that supposedly was wrapped around Jesus when he was brought from the cross, on which the imprint of his body remains. |
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Santuario della Consolata
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| The Sanctuary was built at the beginning of the 1700’s by Guarini. Enclosed within is the construction the Romanesque Sant’Andrea Church, built in the 17th century. From that period, the belltower, with bifore and trifore, remains. The richly-decorated hexagonal interior is surrounded by elliptical chapels. |
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Gallery of Modern Art
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| Housed at Via Magenti 31, this gallery contains one of the richest collections in Italy, with important paintings and sculptures by Italian and foreign artists of the 19th and 20th centuries. Among the most famous are: Modigliani, De Chirico, Carrà, Morandi, Tosi, Fattori, Guttuso, Courbet, Renoir, Léger, Utrillo, Klee, Ernst and Chagall. |
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Mole Antonelliana
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 Between Via Po and Via Montebello rises the characteristic Mole Antonelliana, a grandiose construction from the second half of the 1800’s, conceived by Alessandro Antonelli. Originally it was entirely in brick, 168 meters (548 feet) high. It has become the emblem of the city.
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Carignano Palace
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| Planned by Guarini at the end of the 1600’s, this is a magnificent Baroque building. It has a notable façade with a double-rowed balcony, a majestic atrium and a beautiful courtyard. Carlo Alberto was born here in 1798 and Vittorio Emanuele II in 1829. In a temporary pavilion in the courtyard, on March 14, 1861, the Kingdom of Italy was proclaimed. The first Chamber of Deputies (1848-1860) and the first Italian Parliament (1860-1865) were held here. On the first floor of the Palace is the Museum of the Italian Risorgimento, the largest collection of documents, relics, flags, drawings and paintings from the period in which Italian unity was achieved. |
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Palace of the Academy of Sciences |
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This grandiose building, planned in 1678 by Guarini, houses the most important artistic collections of the city: the Sabauda Gallery and the Egyptian Museum.
The Sabauda Gallery, on the second floor, is a precious collection that can boast notable paintings from the Flemish and Dutch Schools, as well as paintings by local, Tuscan and Venetian artists. Among the major painters are: Rembrandt, A. Van Dyck, Jean van Eyck, Botticelli, Veronese, Daddi, Beato Angelico, Pollaiolo, Bronzino, Mantegna, Tiepolo and Tintoretto.
The Egyptian Museum, one of the most important in Europe, occupies the right wing of the ground floor and the first floor. Here one finds tombs, vases, weapons, papyruses, statuettes and paintings documenting various aspects of Egyptian civilization. Among the most important works are the statues of Ramses II and the tomb of Kha and Mirit (husband and wife), dating from 1430 to 1375 BC.
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Madama Palace
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| The Palace, located at the center of Piazza Castello, is interesting for its part-medieval, part-Baroque appearance. The large building includes the remains of an ancient Roman doorway. It was transformed in medieval times into a castle, enlarged in the 1400’s by the Savoy. In the 17th century it became the residence of Her Royal Majesty Maria Cristina, widow of Vittorio Amadeo I. In the 1700’s, the Palace was rebuilt by Filippo Juvara, who was responsible for the beautiful Baroque façade. It now houses the Civic Museum of Ancient Art, a collection of art from the Middle Ages to the 19th century, predominantly from the Piedmont region. |
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Royal Palace
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 Built in 1660, the Royal Palace was the residence of the Savoy up to 1865. The richly-furnished interior rooms contain decorations from the 17th to 19th centuries and preserve precious vases from the Far East. Of particular interest are the Chinese Cabinet, decorated in antique lacquers, and the Stairway of the "Forbici" (Scissors), planned in 1720 by Filippo Juvara. The right wing of the Palace houses the Royal Armory, one of the most prestigious collections in Europe. |
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Valentino Park
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 The Valentino, a public park, extends along the left bank of the Po. It was laid out in 1830 in an area of approximately 55 hectares. Within the park, one can visit the Botanical Gardens, the Turin Exposition Palace (site of important events such as the "Automobile Salon"), the Valentino Castle (built between 1630 and 1660 by Carlo di Castellamonte), the "Borgo" (Village) and the Medieval castle (a complex made up of reproductions of Piedmont buildings from the Middle Ages and castles from the Valle d’Aosta).
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Piazza Castello
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| The castle was planned by Ascanio Vitozzi in 1584, who was appointed by Carlo Emanuele. This is the heart of the city. Surrounded by uniform palaces with arcades, the Madama Palace stands alone in the center. The beautiful San Lorenzo Church is in the front, and on the east side is the façade of the Teatro Regio (1700’s), rebuilt according to a modern design. |
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Piazza San Carlo
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| This is the most beautiful piazza in Turin, connected to Piazza Castello by Via Roma, the main road in the city center. Its present appearance dates back to the 17th century. At the center of the piazza is the monument to Emanuele Filiberto, a work of Marocchetti (1838). On one side is the magnificent palace from the 1600’s "Solaro del Borgo," planned by Castellamonte, and on the other two sides the Baroque churches Santa Cristina and San Carlo. |
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Carlo Biscaretti di Ruffia Automobile Museum
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The museum is housed in a palace at Corso Unità d’Italia 10. It documents the history and evolution of the Italian automobile and some of its foreign production. Among the vehicles on display are the first steam-powered car, the first Fiat (1899), the cars from the first "Giro d’Italia" (Tour of Italy) (1901), and the "Italia" car, which won the famous Paris-Peking race in 1907.
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