Northeast of piazza Castello is the heart of Turin’s university life, the back streets north of via Po alive with long-haired students ‘studying’ in the countless bars and cafés. Rising above this is Turin’s Eiffel-esque icon, la Mole Antonelliana, offering superb panoramic views and housing an impressive and unmissable cinema museum. The main artery east is the busy, arcaded via Po whose cobbled, antiquey feel make it one of the most enchanting streets in the city. Across the river and past the unmissable nightlife of the Murazzi, is la collina torinese, Turin’s rive droite – known as la Zona Crimea – and most exclusive residential area. With the spectral church of the Gran Madre at its fulcrum, the view is one of undulating forested hills nested by grand 19th-century and liberty-style villas. Behind these stretch hectare after hectare of wooded parkland. Brooding and Kafkaesque by winter, this area of the city exudes the sense of a greater, observing force, making it the heart of black magic Turin. Far away on a distant hillside stands the Basilica di Superga, once Turin’s saviour but now a place of romance and haunting tragedy in equal measure. SightsLa Mole Antonelliana via Montebello 20, T 011 8125658. Tue-Sun 0900-2000, Sat until 2300, Mon closed. A lone spire towering above the city, the extraordinary Mole Antonelliana is without doubt the symbol and icon of Turin visible for miles around, providing sweeping vistas over the city and north to the Alps. On the top, 167.5 m above ground, sits a three-dimensional iron star which replaced the original iron angel that fell off in a hurricane in 1904. The tower takes its name from the architect Alessandro Antonelli who was originally charged with designing a synagogue for the city’s Jewish population. Instead, what he conceived was a curious mixture of neoclassical, neogothic and pure fantasy that, but for its straight lines and symmetry, might have been designed by the Catalan genius, Antoni Gaudi. However, to compare the building to anything else would be to deny its uniqueness. The conflict between adhering to tradition and striking out for a new architectural language is palpable and in fact many consider Antonelli’s creation to have been seminal in sparking a fever of new metropolitan architecture that subsequently swept over Europe culminating in the Eiffel Tower, which the Mole precedes by some 20 years. Antonelli conceived his design in 1836 and building took place from 1863 until 1869 when it was discontinued by the Jewish Community. The Mole was once the highest stone building in Europe until it had to be reinforced with iron following a tornado in 1953. There are 1,040 steps leading up to the very top but these are forbidden to the public. Instead you’ll be relieved to know that since 1961 an ascensore panoramico (panoramic lift) has carried visitors up to the mid-way terrace at 85 m from where great views can still be enjoyed. As part of Turin’s devotion to the contemporary arts, the dome carries an exhibition of lights and numbers, Luci d’Artista, including Il volo dei numeri (the flight of the numbers) by Mario Merz. For what it’s worth, the Mole Antonelliana also appears on the back of the two centimes euro coin. As befits a structure of such avant-garde design, the Mole also houses Turin’s Museo Nazionale del Cinema, by repute the best cinema museum in Europe and definitely worth a visit. Museo Nazionale del Cinema via Montebello 20, T 011 8125658, http://www.museonazionaledelcinema.org Tue-Sun 0900-2000, Sat until 2300, Mon closed. E 6.80 (includes panoramic lift). Opened in 2000, the unique internal space of the Mole Antonelliana has been converted to superb effect to house Italy’s Museo Nazionale del Cinema, designed by Francois Confino. The museum is laid out on four different levels and features the ultimate in museum technology in a perfect marriage of interactivity and entertainment, alongside history, science and a matchless collection of artefacts. The collection comprises some 3,400 objects, machines and devices from the early days of cinema; over 300,000 film posters and adverts; a cinematheque of 7,200 classics and a library of over 20,000 books and documents including the original scripts and scores of films like Psycho and The Godfather – Part II. Visitors work their way up from the ground floor through the history of cinema and exhibits devoted to such as aspects as divas, costumes, special effects and animation. Don’t miss the holy grail of Fellini’s famous hat, coat and scarf as you continue up to the pièce de resistance inside the dome of the Mole. Here, in a nod to the tower’s original conception as a synagogue, is the Aula del Tempio, an atrium of 10 chapels where in the luxury of cushions and chaises longues visitors can immerse themselves in projections of different genres of film from Bunuel’s absurdist cinema to horror flicks. Films are shown on a loop with detailed timetables of showings. Virtually the whole gamut of cinema schools are on show: it is truly unmissable. Via Po While via Roma displays its modern boutiquey air like a fashion label, via Po is the most subtle, distinguished and atmospheric of Turin’s boulevards. It is a pleasure to stroll up and down its arcades, or to delve into some of the city’s oldest, most refined shops including bookdealers, chocolatiers and art galleries. The street is also a favourite of Turin’s student population. Betrundled by ageing orange trams, the cobbled street slopes gently down to the banks of the river Po, at its delta opening out into the vast expanse of piazza Vittorio Veneto. At number 17, the Palazzo Universita was the last work of the architect Michelangelo Garove in 1713 while the elegant villa of the Palazzo Accorsi at number 55 houses the Museo delle Arti Decorative. Palazzo Università via Po 17. Main building accessed around the corner at via Verdi 6. Turin’s university was originally founded in 1404 and has been present permanently in the city since 1566. Its main building is a magnificent architectural statement of learning. Built between 1713-20 on designs by Michelangelo Garove, the first sight is of an impressive courtyard with a double loggia of arcades studded with imperious statues and busts. Inside the main hall are paintings by Sebastiano Ricci, Sebastiano Conca and Francesco Trevisiani taken from the Cappella di Sant’Uberto in Venaria Reale. Museo delle Arti Decorative (Fondazione Pietro Accorsi) via Po 55, T 011 8129116, http://www.fondazioneaccorsi.it Tue-Sun 1000-2000, Thu until 2300, Mon closed. Guided tours only. E 6.20 (ticket includes guide). Spread over 26 rooms, this museum is designed to recreate the decor of an 18th- century noble residence, albeit a rather exaggerated and lavish one. Compiled from the collection of an antique collector, Pietro Accorsi (famous apparently for handling the sale of Giorgione’s Tempesta), every detail is observed from furniture and paintings to crystal and silverware, bronzes, porcelain, majolica and carpets. Piazza Vittorio Veneto At the end of via Po from Piazzo Castello. A superb stage set for Turin’s dramatic hillside backdrop focused around the Gran Madre di Dio church, piazza Vittorio Veneto is, despite its size, the most atmospheric of Turin’s grandiose main squares. Continuing the theme of the arcades from via Po all around its perimeter, it was designed in the 19th-century by Giuseppe Frizzi with the aim of linking baroque Turin with the 19th-century urban developments on the other side of the Po. I Murazzi At the end of via Po. At the end of piazza Vittorio, on either side of the Napoleonic Ponte Vittorio Emanuele over the Po, two slip roads lead down to the water’s edge. To the right is a broad, flat landing bay that in Napoleonic times was used as a port. Set back from the edge, under a sequence of arches reminiscent of those on Brighton beach, is a row of former boathouses, storehouses and workshops. Designed in 1830 by Carlo Bernardo Mosca, this wall of converted industrial spaces is known by locals as the Murazzi, literally meaning ‘bad walls’, possibly on account of the louche scene that they have been famous for hosting. It’s a little ironic as this is the location of Turin’s best, most experimental and avant-garde bars and clubs which keep the city at the forefront of Italy’s burgeoning reggae and jazz music scene. To the left of the bridge the bay narrows and is more atmospheric still. Nothing can beat coming out of the Doctor Sax club at 4 am on a moody winter’s morning to be confronted by the moon and the silhouette of the bridge, preceded by the rushing weir across which Michael Caine’s minis charged, all illuminated by the lantern of the church on the Monte dei Capuccini. Il ponte Vittorio Emanuele I This pretty bridge connecting piazza Vittorio to the right bank and the foot of the Chiesa della Gran Madre is a creation of Turin’s brief time under Naploeonic rule. Napoleon oversaw the pulling down of Turin’s old city walls on the left bank, opening up the city to the right bank and replacing the 15th-century bridge with the multi-arched bridge that now stands here. With its Parisian lamps, the bridge beautifully illuminates the river and hillside at night. Chiesa della Gran Madre di Dio piazza della Gran Madre di Dio 4, T 011 8193572. 0800-1200, 1500-1900. The Gran Madre is a beautiful example of the symmetry so prevalent in Turin, with its distinctive dome and classical columns visible from the top of via Po. The street opens out into the vast expanse of piazza Vittorio Veneto and the church sits raised like a throne across the river from it. The church is a rare piece of neoclassicism in Turin, its pediment and six classical columns recalling the Pantheon in Rome (and also the Eglise de la Madeleine in Paris). The church was in fact designed by the Rome-trained architect, Ferdinando Bonsignore, and built between 1818 and 1831. Bonsignore was commissioned to design a church fit to celebrate the return of the Savoys to the throne following the end of the Napoleonic reign and the Treaty of Paris in 1814. The church is the main focal point of the right bank nestled in the natural amphitheatre of the hills. At the foot of the steps is a monument to Vittorio Emanuele I. The steps lead up to the entrance, above which is a depiction of the Virgin being prayed to by the governors of Turin. These were the steps down which Michael Caine’s three minis were chased by the carabinieri in The Italian Job, charging in a criss-cross pattern while a wedding celebration carried on obliviously. The Gran Madre has an important place in the folklore of Turin as a pole of magical forces. The church is said to stand on a point of magical energy and some even maintain the church guards the Holy Grail in its foundations. Black magic sights Magical energy and mysterious fog envelopes Turin to the extent that many see it as a seat of powerful supernatural forces, and there are many places to seek out this special atmosphere. The Holy Grail is said to lie in the foundations of the Gran Madre church (above) and some of the statues in front of the church have been linked with the prophecies of Nostradamus, who lived in Turin for several years. Piazza Solferino, the Fontana Angelica, Giovanni Riva’s 1928 creation which represents the four seasons, is supposed to be the gateway to the Universe. The parco Tesoriera, known to believers as ‘the devil’s park’ in Corso Francia, is supposedly the place to go at night for a rare sighting of a famous ghost on horseback. The area around piazza Castello, on the other hand, is deemed to be the ‘white heart’ of the city and the centre of its positive energy. In the church of Corpus Domini (in the piazzetta of the same name) is a grail that was the subject of a miracle: it supposedly flew free of a climbing thief’s swagbag and stayed airborn, only coming down to earth again when the bishop prayed it to do so. Then of course there is the Shroud and also a cross made from the same wood as Christ’s cross, said to lie under the Basilica di Maria Ausiliatrice. There are also said to be Grotte Alchimiche under Palazzo Madama – caves where the Savoys kept alchemists in an attempt to make gold. The most magical point in the city is said to be the gateway through to the Palazzo Reale between the two equestrian statues of Castor and Pollux. The invisible line which joins them is said to divide the diabolic and the holy. Piazza Statuto and the area around and along Corso Francia is said to be the ‘black heart’ of the city. This is because it is in the west and therefore satanic, as the west is where the sun sets and sunset marks the threshold betweeen good and evil. There used to be a cemetery under the piazza, stretching out in a fan under the connecting streets. The cemetery was called vallis occisorum, hence the modern name of the quarter, Valdocco. Coincidentally, the centre of the piazza happens to be entrance to the operations room of Turin’s sewers, the same place where legend places the gateway to hell. The neighbouring streets of via Barabaroux and via Bonelli are also supposed to be charged with evil spirits, particularly emanating from the churches, la Chiesa della Misericordia and la Chiesa di Santa Maria. Depending on your inclination, all of this may seem entirely plausible or simply wishful sorcery. However, there is no denying the city’s atmosphere of mystery and extraordinary concentration of mystical objects. Gustavo Rol was the great champion of his home town’s spirituality and his and many other books on the subject can be found in the Libreria Esoterica Arethusa at via Po 2. Chiesa di Santa Maria del Monte via Giardino 35, T 011 6604414. Daily, 0800-1200, 1500-1900. The Monte dei Cappuccini, a wooded hilltop rising up to the right of the Gran Madre church, is a favourite among Torinesi for Sunday strolls. Atop the hill, illuminated atmospherically at night, is the church of Santa Maria del Monte. The church was commissioned in 1584 for the local community of Capuccin monks and designed by Ascanio Vitozzi. However, the church took many years to finish and was not finally consecrated until 1656. The building was overseen first by Vitozzi and then by Amedeo di Castellamonte and thus is a slight cocktail of styles. The principal feature is the lovely octagonal dome by Vitozzi, beautiful from both inside and out. The church was recently decorated with small blue lights called Piccoli Spiriti Blu (little blue spirits) by Rebecca Horn as part of an exhibit in the annual Luci d’Artisti contemporary arts festival. The exhibit was such a success that it may become a permanent feature. Museo Nazionale della Montagna via G Giardino 39, T 011 6604104, http://www.museomontagna.org Daily 0900-1900. E 5. Just over an hour from the Alps is the appropriate location for Italy’s national mountaineering museum, next to the Chiesa di Santa Maria del Monte. The museum is dedicated to Luigi di Savoia, Duke of the Abruzzi, one of the great 19th-century characters of Italy’s mountaineering history. The duke was reputedly more interested in his expeditions than matters of court and managed the feat, far more significant in those days, of climbing 7,500 m up K2. The museum has various objects and documents on alpinism that are of fairly niche interest to all but enthusiasts of the mountain. It is also the headquarters of Italy’s premier mountaineering club. Villa Abegg Closed to the public. A section of the gardens are open on Sat and Sun, May-Sep 0900-1900, Oct-Apr 0900-1700. The Villa Abegg is one of the great grandiose villa residences of Turin’s exclusive hillside. The building was erected by order of the Madama Reale, the French wife of Vittorio Amedeo I and built between 1648-53. It is said that in the solitude of this country residence the queen indulged her affair with Filippo, duke of the nearby town of Aglie. When Turin was under Napoleonic rule, the Villa Abegg is also supposed to have been the favoured residence of Paolina Bonaparte. Impressive, atmospheric and shrouded by dense gardens, the Villa Abegg was a major protagonist in the 1975 thriller film Profondo Rosso by Dario Argento. Villa della Regina strada di Santa Margherita 40. Currently closed for restoration, due to reopen as a museum and exhibition space. The most magnificent of the grand residences on Turin’s right bank, the Villa della Regina has recently been added to UNESCO’s list of world heritage sites. The double loggia, curved entrance steps and terrace decorated with statues display an almost Palladian symmetry and sense of proportion. It was the design of Ascanio Vitozzi, conceived in 1618 and built between 1620-57. The villa was built at the behest of Cardinal Maurizio di Savoia who founded his Accademia dei Solinghi here, a circle of philosophical and mathematical discussion and at the time a significant hotbed of anti-French thinking. The villa was subsequently the favourite demeure of Anna Maria d’Orleans and Maria Antonia Borbone. The interior features a salon with frescos by Daniel Seyter and Corrado Giaquinto (Crosato). Basilica di Superga strada Basilica di Superga 73, T 011 8997456. E 3 dome, E 3 tombs, E 5 combined entry. 0900-1200, 1500-1830. The spectral yellow form of the Superga basilica stands on a distant hill of the same name, surveying Turin like a guardian angel. Indeed, the church began its life as a protrectress: the story goes that in 1706, King Vittorio Amedeo II climbed the hill to survey the positions of the invading Franco-Spanish army. He prayed to the Virgin and swore that if she would protect the city of Turin he would build a votive church to her there in recognition of her divine intervention. A few days later, on 7 September, the Piemontese defeated the French and Spanish in the Battle of Turin and after the treasury had recovered from the drain of the war work began on making good Vittorio Amedeo’s oath. The work took 15 years. From Sassi, at the foot of the hill, you can reach the basilica either by car or by using the quaint mountain railway with its 1930s wooden carriages and original station architecture. Trains depart hourly on the hour, 0900-1200, 1400-2000, Sat 0900-2000. The king commissioned his favourite architect, Filippo Juvarra, to design the church to represent a continuation of the flattened hillside to a summit. It is an impressive, slightly haunting hulk of a building with a grandiose baroque entrance acting as a façade to a long and externally simple main body. The entrance itself has eight magnificent Corinthian columns raised above a set of steps above which rises a double-tiered cupola flanked by two symmetrical belltowers. Inside is a large cloister and the chapel with the statue of the Madonna to which Vittorio Amedeo II supposedly prayed. However, the main attraction of the site is the vast mausoleum in the crypt (entry E 3). It is dedicated to the Savoy Dynasty with the tombs of dukes and kings from Vittorio Amedeo II to Carlo Alberto, designed by Juvarra’s nephew, Francisco Martinez. Next to the cloister there is the famous Sala dei Papi, a gallery of portraits of all 240 pontiffs up to the current Pope John Paul II. Completing the rather spooky atmosphere that pervades the Superga is the Museo del Grande Torino, the museum to Turin’s less famous football club, Torino (or granata as they are colloquially known, the word for the purple of their strip), accessed through the cloister (E 2). In the rear garden of the building there is a shrine to the Italian equivalent of the Munich Air disaster, when on 4 May 1949 the victorious Torino team of Valentino Mazzola crashed into the hill in thick fog on their way back from a successful European campaign. There were no survivors from Italy’s finest team of the moment, eight of whom were Italian internationals. By night looking down on Turin, the city shimmers as if hovering, waiting to take off and disappear. By day from its altitude of 670 m the best views available reach as far as the Alps, the Matterhorn and Mont Blanc. Parco della Rimembranza, parco Europa and parco Leopardi strade della Valsalice. Winter 0900-1700, summer 0800-2200. There are a succession of beautiful wooded parks in the hills above Turin. Less than 10 km and a 10 to 15-minute drive southeast from the centre is the parco della Rimembranze, dedicated to Italy’s dead from the First World War, occupying the whole of the Colla della Maddelena hill. On the peak of the hill, at 715 m above sea level, is the Faro della Vittoria, a triumphal statue from 1928 by Edoardo Rubino. Further on is the parco Europa, also known as parco Cavoretto, one of the most beautiful areas of the Turin hillside with a bar, restaurants and a maze of paths in the woods. It is perfect for relaxing and a break from the boulevards of the city. Lower down by the river, parco Leopardi is soothing and pretty.
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