Turin

Turin

Set at the foot of the Alps, Turin is a city with a thousand faces and a unique charm, a place rich in history and art but also synonymous with good food and excellent wine!

The former capital of the Savoy kingdom and the cradle of the Risorgimento, Turin is one of the most beautiful cities in Italy, full of things to see: architectural jewels, artistic treasures, museums, art galleries and much more. With its immense heritage, accumulated over centuries of history, the city offers wonderful views between the streets of the centre and the long avenues lined with colonnades.

Elegant and mysterious, Turin captivates its visitors by welcoming them into the grand and noble spaces of Piazza Castello, the beating heart of the city, around which the main historical monuments stand, entered by the refined and very busy Via Roma. The square is the setting for important historical buildings such as Palazzo Reale, the most important of the Savoy residences in Piedmont, with its elegant and tasteful baroque facade, and Palazzo Madama, testimony to two thousand years of the city's history and now home to the Civic Museum of Antique Art.

The old houses in the historic centre of the city are overlooked by the Mole Antonelliana, one of the symbols of Turin and one of the tallest buildings in Italy. When work began on the building in 1863, to a design by architect Alessandro Antonelli, it was intended to be a Jewish temple. It was then sold to the Municipal Authorities in 1878 and dedicated it to King Vittorio Emanuele II. It currently houses the National Cinema Museum, a futuristic installation that represents the perfect fusion between tradition and progress. From the top of the Mole you can admire a magnificent view of the city which, on the clearest and sunniest days, extends as far as the Alps.

Another of the symbols of Turin is the Cathedral of San Giovanni located in the square of the same name. This splendid religious building combines Baroque and Renaissance styles and was built between 1491 and 1498 at the behest of Cardinal della Rovere. The cathedral is internationally famous for the Holy Shroud, which has been kept here for four centuries. According to tradition, the Shroud is the sheet mentioned in the Gospels, used to wrap Jesus' body before he was laid in the tomb.

Turin is home to one of the most important museums in Italy, the Egyptian Museum, dedicated entirely to the art and culture of ancient Egypt. Second in importance only to that of Cairo, the museum houses an extraordinary collection of over 5000 exhibits, including the intact tomb of Kha and Merit and the rock temple of Ellesyia. Not to be missed, just a few kilometres from the centre of Turin, is the Reggia di Venaria Reale, one of the most beautiful ducal residences in Piedmont.