Explore Turin
Turin's proud historical past is evident in its wide avenues, elegant arcades, stately buildings and interesting museums. The city inhabitants have earned a reputation as hard workers. Turin was born as a Roman military camp on their way to Gaul. Their traces are still evident in the city. There is still a piece of the Wall of Roman Empire, Porta Palatina. Also the city plan reflects the Roman organized way of building cities. Turin became a capital in the second half of the sixteenth century, when the Dukes of Savoy transferred the Court and the Holy Shroud (www.shroud.com) on the other side of the Alps. After two centuries it became the birthplace of the 19th century Italian unification. Since then, Turin has been a fully-fledged European town: a dynamic, artistic, cultural, political and economical centre.
Nowadays, Turin is both an industrial city and a research and training centre with institutions such as the University, the Polytechnic, the UN International Labour Organisation campus and the EU agency European Training Foundation. Furthermore, Turin and its surroundings hosted the XX Winter Olympic Games in 2006 (www.torino2006.it) and the Winter Universiades in 2007.
Walking around Turin is like passing from one historical moment to another:
- Piazza Castello strikingly brings together hundreds of years of history in a single painting.
- Palazzo Madama, an extraordinary building in the centre of the square, is itself a compendium of periods ranging from Roman to Medieval, to the 17th and the 18th century, brought together in a remarkable structure.
- The River Po flows between the city and the hills beyond. Here and there we find gardens, parks, avenues and squares for tourists to explore.
In Turin there are also various museums, including the Egyptian Museum which is world-famous for the number and importance of its exhibits.
- La Mole Antonelliana
- Basilica Superga
- Parco Valentino
- Piazza Vittorio Veneto
- Duomo
Not to mention the famous Italian food culture!
To tempt the palate Turin offers its traditional chocolates, splendid wines and cuisine.
Turin is Italy's most European town, a cornucopia of surprises.
To know more about Turin:
www.comune.torino.it