Turin: the city centre

The facade of the Duomo

We have just arrived in Turin for a brief stay. This post describes a short stroll around the historic centre. We started however by investigating some art nouveau buildings we spotted on our way to our hotel from the station.

The first was on the corner of St Francis of Assisi and via Pitero Micca. We were struck by the beautiful window on the corner. The shade and tram wires rather reduce the impact of the photo

Next door, further long St Francis of Assisi, there was a house with beautiful foliage decorations growing up under the eaves. We noticed that the various trees which were depicted all had different fruit.

Returning to Pietro Micca, we were struck by a building with a series of towers and lovely flower motifs over the windows.

We headed next to Piazza San Carlo, a large square with the unusual feature of having two churches, one on eirther side of the road out of it. We enjoyed the novelty of a glass of wine sitting in the warm late afternoon sunshine.

 After the second glass we decided we had really better continue our exploration, so we headed north out of the square to soon reach the Piazza Castello. The centre point of this is the 14th century castle, unfortunately unavoidably photographed into the sun.

 Astonishingly, however, when you go round to the other side, the rear facade is completely different.

Over to the is the beautiful Royal Palace.

I thought the railings were especially pleasing.

Just off to the left, as you look at the Palace, was the royal church of San Lorenzo, whose cupola was very striking in the evening sun.

The church is unusual in not having a splendid facade, but inside is a riot of baroque extravagance. The underside of the cupola is splendid however.

We returned to via XX Settembre and headed north to reach the Duomo. This is an elaborate concentration of elements, although the main facade is pleasing in austere way. It was begun in 1491.

Inside, there is a series of elaborate side chapels surrounding a rather plain nave. Over in the far corner a small chapel houses a replica of the famous Turin Shroud, something I have been aware of almost all my life. It is quite impressive, despite being mostly regarded as a medieval fake.

Leaving the church, we passed the side range of the Palazzo Royale, with what seems to be the remains of a Roman theatre in front of it.

The end of our walk was the magnificent Roman gate, the Porta Palatina, which dates from the first century AD.

Conditions: initially warm and sunny, but soon cooling as the late afternoon turned to early evening.

Distance: a couple of miles.

Rating: four stars. A lovely introduction to the city.