Each month we highlight a place of interest around the globe that we consider as unique as Borgo di Vagli. The tips are selected as they either show respect for the environment, nature, and architectural beauty or are deeply indigenous to their individual origin and this month we encapsulate all of these components.
Over the years, many owners have asked Fulvio for tips on his home town, Turin. Most recently, our Australian owner Bruce Severns asked Fulvio for his advise when visiting the north, so we thought that it might be a good idea to spread the word about one of the most important and probably lesser known city’s in the north of Italy.
The following are Fulvio’s thoughts and you can be sure these tips are from an insider!
“…Turin is my home town: it was the first capital of Italy in 1861, after the long and troubled years of the Risorgimento, which united under the same flag and Parliament all the historically very fragmented political and social realities of the Country. The Savoia family, which reigned in Turin for centuries, was, together with Garibaldi, Mazzini and Cavour the political and military power, which had the strength and determination to fight against all the fragmented political realities of those years, being able to unite, after hundreds of years (actually after the dissolution of the Roman Empire), all the Regions and people which are now known as Italy.
I’m sure it will be interesting for you to have an idea of what happened during the Risorgimento and after.
Please click here to read the history.
Turin, consequently, is “the” place where you can actually feel and touch THAT Historical, Cultural and Architectural period. And, definitively, you can also touch the strong influence of the French Culture of those centuries, which represented the background of the Savoia family. The must see sites, which will tell you a lot about the History and Culture of the Town are endless, but at least you should visit the following sites.
Palazzo Reale
(click on each name to access the descriptive web pages);
Palazzo Carignano (first Parliament of Italy)
Duomo di Torino e Sacra Sindone
Mole Antonelliana
now hosting one of the most important Cinema Museums.
Turin, of course, is also FIAT’s home town, with all the related… pros and cons in the economy and life of the town. But, I believe it deserves a visit to the “Lingotto” factory, which represents the glorious period of the brand and it’s now been turned into a series of Museums, Art Galleries, Hotel, restaurants and amenities (amazingly beautiful and interesting the car final test circuit built on the roof of the factory!!!!).
Not to be missed the small but rich Contemporary Art Museum on the top of the building, designed by Renzo Piano, which hosts a part of the Agnelli Foundation Artworks and the original Eataly store, which is now present in many other cities around the World.
Not to be forgotten, Turin was also one of the important Roman Castrum of the North (Augusta Taurinorum) and many Roman remains can be found.
Hotels - nowadays with Goolge and TripAdvisors you can easily find your more suitable hotel based on a budget, but I’d like to suggest one in particular, as it's very well located in the center and would allow you to walk around without having to bother with a car. It’s the NH Santo Stefano literally, few hundreds meters away from the Roman sites, the Duomo and Palazzo Reale.
In more recent years, Turin has become one of the most important locations for Contemporary Art.
Castello di Rivoli Definitively, the most important in Italy and one of the places of excellence in Europe
Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo
Restaurants. I’m sure you’ll be starving after so many visits and sites… and you must be curious and eager to know more about typical Piedmontese cuisine (which is extremely different and certainly more varied and complex than the Tuscan one…). Below some of my favorite addresses:
Del Cambio (Cavour's favorite restaurant)
And the bars in Turin are not second to anyone else and well show the pace of the Historical Town; in many of them you would expect to see Cavour himself coming in for a coffee or a chocolate…
Al Bicerin …(small glass)
Al caval d’broze…(bronze horse)
Last but not least…the signature chocolate temples….!!!:
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