TOUR
ROMAN
, MEDIAEVAL, AND RENAISSANCE TURIN...plusThe tour starts in piazza Castello, the heart of the city. Despite the baroque facade, in Roman times this was where the Porta Decumana - or Pretoria - stood and a section of the 3,000-metre wall that surrounded the colony passed here.
Cross piazzetta Reale and turn left under the two archways. To your left you find Palazzo dei Duchi del Chiablese, to your right the Duomo di San Giovanni, commissioned by Cardinal Domenico della Rovere and designed by the Tuscan architect, Meo del Caprina da Settignano, and completed in 1498. The facade is particularly fine. There are few examples of Renaissance architecture in Turin and the Duomo is the only religious one. Alongside the Duomo towers the 60-metre Campanile di San Giovanni, which was built about 30 years before the cathedral itself.
Behind the Duomo soars the pointed cupola of the Cappella della Sindone, or Chapel of the Holy Shroud, seriously damaged by a fire in April 1997. A baroque masterpiece, the cupola is a miracle of levity and elegance. 61 metres high with a diameter of 18 metres, it was built by Guarino Guarini between 1668 and 1694 to house the Sindone (or shroud, from the Greek Sindòn), the sheet in which Christ's body is reputed to have been wrapped after the Deposition from the Cross. After it was acquired by the Savoys, Emanuele Filiberto had it brought to Turin in 1578 to facilitate San Carlo Borromeo's pilgrimage to admire the relic.
You enter the Cappella della Sindone from the Duomo itself up two black marble baroque staircases. The interior of the Chapel is also decorated in black as a token of sadness. Chances to see the original Sindone - which is rolled up in a precious casket on Bertola's baroque altar - are becoming increasingly infrequent. Which is why a life-size copy is on display in the Duomo to the left of the high altar.
From the steps in front of the Duomo it is possible to admire the most important monuments of Roman Turin: the remains of the walls, Porta Palatina and the theatre. The ancient Roman castrum was almost square in shape and was split up into 72 insulae of straight streets, known as cardi or decumani. Dotted around the perimeter were thirty or so octagonal towers and four large gates. Anyone arriving from the Po Valley entered the city through the Porta Palatina. In the Roman era it was the Principalis Sinistra.
Only one part of the Roman theatre is visible. The rest is buried under the twentieth-century wing of Palazzo Reale.
Situated nearby is the Museo di Antichità (corso Regina Margherita 105 - tel. 5212251), whose archaeological exhibits cover the period from the Palaeolithic period to the early Middle Ages. Especially noteworthy are the Roman remains on display: they include glassware and silver from the Treasury of Marengo, bronzes from Industria and numerous well-conserved steles and sculptures.
You now proceed through the Roman area of Turin, which also corresponds to the mediaeval area.
Stroll down via Quattro Marzo, where it is possible to see houses with Gothic and Renaissance windows, as far as via Porta Palatina. The towers of the Roman gate soar up to your right.
Turning left into via Porta Palatina, once known as via dei Cappellai, or Hatters' Street, you pass in front of the Church of the Santo Spirito, the home of Confraternity which has existed since 1575. Here Rousseau, who lived at number 11, where the Ospizio dei Catecumeni, the Hospice of the Catechumens was once situated, converted to Catholicism on April 23 1728.
You now enter piazza Corpus Domini (with a view of the Teatro Regio and the spire of the Mole Antonelliana to the left). The square is dominated by the Church of the same name designed by Vittozzi to commemorate the Miracle of 1453. Now take via Palazzo di Città where, at number 19, a plaque commemorates the so-called Casa della volta rossa, the house with the red vault, where San Giuseppe Cottolengo began his good work to aid the poor and sick in 1828.
You now enter piazza Palazzo di Città, the former grass market. At the centre stands Palagi's Monumento al Conte Verde (Amedeo VI). The seventeenth-century Palazzo Civico was designed by Lanfranchi and later enlarged by Benedetto Alfieri.
Turning right into via Milano, you come to the Gothic Church of San Domenico, built in the thirteenth century and later altered. The building houses a number of interesting works of art: fourteenth-century frescoes in the Chapel of the Madonna delle Grazie (on the left), an altarpiece by Guercino surrounded by gilded panels by Stefano Maria Clemente; in the Chapel of the Rosary (on the right), a seventeenth-century Crucifixion over the High Altar and a lovely eighteenth-century pulpit again by Clemente. One wing of the adjoining convent housed the quarters of the Inquisitor and another the dungeons.
Proceeding down via Milano you pass the houses of the animals (number 11 is adorned with dog's heads, number 13 with bulls and number 18 with lions), and the Church of Santi Maurizio e Lazzaro. The streets on either side offer fine views of the Romanesque tower of San Giovanni to the right and that of Sant'Agostino to the left.
You now come to the picturesque Porta Palazzo market (piazza della Repubblica) which is open to the public every weekday morning and all day on Saturdays. Then there is the adjoining flea market, known as the Balôn, open on Saturdays, which every second Sunday in the month becomes the Gran Balôn (the dialect name derives from Borgo del Pallone, or Football District). This famous market of antiques and 'trouvailles' attracts flocks of visitors from both Italy and abroad.
From Porta Palazzo you cross piazza Emanuele Filiberto (nearby at via Bonelli 2 lived the Chief Executioner), via Sant'Agostino and via Santa Chiara (the Church was built by Vittone in 1745), and proceeding down vicolo della Consolata, you reach piazza della Consolata, in front of the impressive Campanile di Sant'Andrea, all that remains today of the previous Church of Sant'Andrea. This Romanesque bell tower, 40 metres tall, is attributed to the Benedictine monk Bruningo, who was expelled from Novalesa by the Saracens in the tenth century.The belfry dates from 1406.
Looking onto this quiet piazzetta is an old herbalist's shop and the historical café, Al Bicerin, which conserves the original decor it had when it was frequented by the likes of Cavour, Puccini and a host of other famous figures. Here they still make the so-called 'bicerin', a hot concoction of coffee, chocolate and cream, according to the original recipe. The origins of the Church of the Consolata may date to the fourth century, when Saint Eusebius presented Saint Maximus with the image of the Madonna, Maria Consolatrice, who subsequently became the protectress of the city. Many architects and artists, from Guarini to Juvarra and Ceppi, worked on the church during the course of the centuries.
At this point, you are still inside the Roman perimeter. On the north-west side of the Church, it is possible to see the foundations of one of the Roman city's five corner towers. You also get a good view of a small drain which used to discharge into the Dora.
Now proceed along via della Consolata in the direction of via Garibaldi. On the right, at number 3, stands Palazzo Martini di Cigala, built by Juvarra in 1716.
You now find yourself in piazza Savoia, with the Vecchia Farmacia Collegiata, a pharmacy founded earlier than 1500. At the centre of the square an obelisk commemorates the so-called Siccardi laws abolishing the ecclesiastical courts.
There are many important monuments in the area: at via delle Orfane 7 stands Palazzo Barolo, built by Baroncelli,in which Silvio Pellico spent his last years and died. At the junction of via del Carmine and via Bligny is the Church of the Carmine, designed by Juvarra (1732-36), and the adjoining convent built by Plantery (1718). A stone's throw away are the Quartieri Militari, or Military Headquarters, again designed by Juvarra, part of the third extension of the city (1716-28). Here a new Porta Segusina ought to have been built as an entrance to the city from the west, but the project was never implemented.
At via della Consolata 1 is Palazzo Paesana di Saluzzo (1715-18), whose rich sumptuous baroque decorations are almost on a par with those of the Savoy residences. The palace still boasts a sumptuous entrance, a lovely courtyard in which a number of cannon balls are embedded, stairs of honour and a double staircase which branches out on two different levels, both arriving at the same floor. The private apartments on the 'piano nobile' conserve many fine decorations.
Now turn left into via Garibaldi, where the old Roman gate, the Porta Segusina, once stood. To the right, you can see piazza Statuto, with the monument to commemorate the piercing of the Fréjus Tunnel and, in the background, the Alps. You are now walking down what was once the decumanus maximus of the Roman colony, hence the oldest street in Turin. It was once named via Dora Grossa after the gutter ('doira' in dialect) which ran down its middle for the disposal of litter. Today via Garibaldi is an elegant kilometre-long shopping precinct. It is lined by palaces with lovely, harmonious facades and a number of old churches. On the left, at the junction with via delle Orfane, is the Church of San Dalmazzo, whose origins date from the year 1000. This was the site of the convent of the monks of Sant'Antonio, who came from the 'Dauphinate' to run the Hospital of Sant'Antonio di Ranverso.
A little further on, turn right into via Stampatori, at number 4 of which you can admire the Renaissance Palazzo Scaglia di Verrua (1585-1604). Recent restoration work has uncovered frescoes on the facade and in the lovely courtyard.
Back on via Garibaldi, at number 25, is the Church of the Santi Martiri (the martyrs being Solutore, Avventore and Ottavio, the oldest protectors of the city of Turin) with its impressive facade and lavish baroque decorations. It was built from drawings by Pellegrino Tibaldi, and Emanuele Filiberto laid the first stone in 1577. Just to the left of the entrance is the tomb of Joseph la Maistre.
To the right of the Church is the entrance to the Antichi Chiostri, or Old Cloisters, where exhibitions are often staged.
These lead, in turn, into what was once the refectory of the Jesuits and has now become the Cappella dei Banchieri e dei Mercanti, the Chapel of Merchants and Bankers. Home of the Congregation of the same name, the chapel is a veritable baroque jewel, with a vault frescoed by Legnanino, an altar by Juvarra, reliquaries by Bonzanigo, statues by Plura and paintings by Tarocco, Carlone and Pozzo.
You reach piazza Castello after passing in front of the Church of the SS Trinità, built over the former Church of S. Agnese (which dated from earlier than the twelfth century) by Vittozzi, who was buried here. Its neoclassical facade was competed in 1830.
Standing in front of you is Palazzo Madama, where this tour of the oldest part of the city comes to an end.