THEThe “journey within the journey” in Turin is made by crossing the threshold of the two super star attractions of the city: The National Cinema Museum in the Mole Antonelliana and the Egyptian Museum. Unmissable. It is absolutely worth buying tickets and enjoying these two spectacular museums.
A view of Turin, with the river Po, piazza Vittorio Veneto and the Mole Antonelliana.
Then, strolling through the squares, streets and galleries of the center, you are seduced by the charm of its double-sided architecture: outside austere, almost military, inside an explosion of baroque that embellishes churches and historic buildings. The discovery? Turin offers a lot, even at no cost, to travelers who want to know its history.
The noble courtyard of the “cradle” of Italy
The Scalone by Guarino Guarini, in Palazzo Carignano.
In the center of Savoy Turin, in piazza Carignanothe curved lines of the red brick building of the same name catch the eye, a jewel of the seventeenth century where, in 1861, the session of the Chamber was held during which the King of Sardinia Vittorio Emanuele II proclaimed the birth of the Kingdom of Italy.
Cross the threshold and cross the courtyard of Palazzo Carignano, Piedmontese Baroque architecture by Guarino Guarini. His signature? The octagonal star decoration of the internal façade members. From the courtyard you can also admire the beginning of the Guarini staircasealso sinuously curved.
Relaxing in the king’s garden
A glimpse of the Royal Gardens.
Have you been around for a while, the sun is shining and you want to take a break? Cross piazza Castello, cross the gate of piazzetta Reale and go straight on past the door of the Royal Palace. A beautiful vintage iron chair awaits you at the Royal Gardensa peaceful green oasis next to the Royal Museums complex, bordered by the ancient city walls of Turin.
Welcomes visitors the Ducal Garden, punctuated by nineteenth-century cast iron vases, with handles on both sides and with the royal coat of arms. Then you walk up to Groveredesigned by the landscape architect Paolo Pejrone, and you can admire the installation Precious stones by Giulio Paolini: original marbles, damaged by fire, from Chapel of the Holy Shroud, a seventeenth-century masterpiece by Guarino Guarini. Immortalized by Bernardo Bellotto in View of Turin from the side of the royal garden (1745), a painting kept in the Galleria Sabauda, the gardens were refurbished in 2020. Citizens and tourists thank you.
Hunting for murals in the open-air museum
One of the 180 murals of the MAU Museum of Urban Art in Borgo Campidoglio, Turin.
Just a few bus stops from the historic center to a unique experience: walking among low houses and silent cobbled streets, admiring the over 180 works painted on the walls of Borgo Campidoglio (guidatorino.com/borgo-campidoglio-torino). In the former working-class district of the end of the 19th century, you walk with your nose up, in search of the murals of colorful and poetic MAU Urban Art Museum (museoarteurbana.it)born in 1995 thanks to the collaboration with the inhabitants of the neighborhood and the involvement of more than 70 local and non-local artists.
Murals of the MAU, Museum of Urban Art, in front of an artisan shop in Borgo Campidoglio, Turin.
Antonio Carena left his clouds in via Locana; the street artists Mrfijodor and Spider painted the walls of the Dogana Craft Brewery in via Rocciamelone 12, and so on… Want a break? The designer benches by Vito Navolio await you in the public gardens of Piazza Moncenisio.
Murals of the MAU, Museum of Urban Art in Borgo Campidoglio, Turin.
In the multi-ethnic heart of the city
A tour of the benches of Porta Palazzo, the largest outdoor food market in Europe (open from Monday to Friday from 7 to 14; Saturdays from 7 to 19.30) is a must, as is shopping at the richest and most beautiful market in Turin: the Farmers’ marketwhich has been taking place for 100 years under the beautiful cast iron roof.
A stone’s throw away, every Saturday from 7 to 18, the ancient flea market of Balon (balon.it) a city institution crowded with street vendors, second-hand dealers, antique dealers and visitors and onlookers shuttling around the makeshift shops and stalls in search of a bargain. In short, the Balon is the paradise of vintage and objects recovered from attics and cellars, to be found in a lively and fascinating atmosphere, among the suggestive streets Borgo Dora, Cottolengo, Lanino, Mameli, Cortile del Maglio. Fun is guaranteed.
Those secret baroque whims
The Chapel of the Merchants.
Write down this address: via Garibaldi 25. On Saturdays (from 15 to 189 and on Sundays (from 10 to 12) the doors of the sumptuous Chapel of the Merchantsfruit of the work of painters, gilders, sculptors, authors of the extraordinary decorative richness that includes large canvases, rich frames, statues, frescoes, as well as the precious altar in polychrome marble, the organ and the wooden benches. A glance.
Stops of taste in Turin
Vermouth at aperitif time at Pastis, in piazza Emanuele Filiberto 9B.
In Turin, vermouth is synonymous with an aperitif. After a tour in the fascinating Quadrilateral Romanorder it from Pastis (piazza Emanuele Filiberto 9B, pastistorino.com) nice place with outdoor tables in a square with a Parisian allure and a menu that smells of Sicily: unsurpassed Carbonara of tonnara (11 euros) prepared with tuna ficazza (salami), a typical delicacy of Trapani.
Il Pastis, a venue in piazza Emanuele Filiberto 9B, Turin.
At lunchtime, another good address is Defilippis pasta factory (via Lagrange 39) where to bet on Traditional dish good and well presented: Russian salad, veal with tuna sauce, beef in limoncina sauce, mini pepper flan with anchovy cream (17 euros).
Do you want a sandwich with a super filling? With 4 euros you can take away the whim sitting at the tables of the historian Mulassano coffee (piazza Castello 15, caffemulassano.com).
Caffè Mulassano, in piazza Castello 15, Turin.
Turin, as we know, is the kingdom of gluttons. If, concentrating on visiting the city, you forgot to have lunch, treat yourself to a hot chocolate with biscuits or a bicerin (coffee, hot chocolate and milk cream) among the vintage mirrors, boiseriesatin tapestries, elegant candlesticks and porcelain plates of one of the many wonderful historic cafes in the city. And if you want to sip hot chocolate among the teapots, plates, and silverware of the Royal House of Savoy, take a seat at Royal Coffee which has the entrance from the Court of Honor of the Royal Palace and is located in the ancient rooms of the Frutteria Service, a place since the eighteenth century dedicated to the conservation of fine porcelain.
Chocolate, in all its possible variations, is a drug… The gianduia cone of is irresistible More than an ice cream (piudiungelato.it). At the end of the day the cell phone pedometer will absolve you from all sins of gluttony.
Invitation to the Palace
Take a look at the calendar of the Circle of readers (circololettore.it), book an event and cross the threshold of Palazzo Granieri della Roccia, a splendid example of seventeenth-century architecture, in the heart of Turin, a stone’s throw from via Po. Founded in 2006, the Club is a space open to the public (from Monday to Saturday, from 9.30 to 21.30, sometimes also on Sunday) “to all those who love stories, to those who simply want to have a coffee (or even have lunch, enjoy an aperitif or a snack, thanks to the presence of Barney’s, the club’s bar) with a view of the Mole, for those looking for a special place to read their book or browse a newspaper (free for consultation) “.
The thousand low cost stories
Save some space in the trolley. You will fill it with the volumes bought in many kiosks and stalls of second-hand books that follow one another under the portico of via Po, the one on the left side from piazza Castello to piazza Vittorio Veneto. A porch to go through without haste, passing from one stall to another, scrolling the gaze on the titles of the volumes, with the pleasure of touching the books one by one, looking at the price marked in pencil on the back of the cover, exchanging a comment with the salesperson. One of those small, great pleasures that Turin offers. Is it already time for sunset? Head in Maria Teresa square, the “garden square” conceived in the nineteenth century to become the living room of the city bourgeoisie. And then in the neighbor Piazza Cavour, to experience the dreamlike atmosphere of twilight in one of the places in the heart of the Turinese doc.
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