THE SACRED AND THE PROFANE

The Sacred and the Profane are two aspects which coexist, mingle and sometimes overlap. In Turin, in the area surrounding piazza Vittorio (foto), the contrast of the Sacred and the Profane is particularly evident.

Think about Murazzi, a cult area for the young, where, on the river Po bank, you can walk, toast and dance overnight more than in any other Italian city.

Just opposite Murazzi, the imposing, stern building of the Cappuccini Monastery (foto). This building is so lit up and stately that you can see its profile even from within Murazzi night places.

If you spend the night at Murazzi and observe the silent hill, the slow river, the Gran Madre and the Cappuccini Monastery you will feel a strong connection between the Sacred and the Profane.

THE SACRED: the Po river with all the parks along it provided with cycle tracks, the green routes in the hills; the Gran Madre di Dio (foto), the Cappuccini Mount (foto), the Archbishop seminary; the silence, the quiet,the reflections and the early morning.

THE PROFANE: the Gran Madre di Dio (foto), considered by popular belief a site of both black and white magic; the Murazzi with all its entertainment clubs; piazza Vittorio (foto), meeting place for Turin's youth before descending to the "Muri"; the trendy clubs along the Po; the music, energy, transgression and the heart of the night.

To discover the traces of sacred and profane in local history, we have addressed a cooperative association, "Borgo Po e Decoratori", (in via Lanfranchi 28) an ancient charitable association, founded at the end of the 19th century as a solidarity centre for local decorators. Currently, the co-operative is promoting studies and research projects on the Borgo Po area.

1807: NAPOLEON BRIDGE - WHERE THE SACRED AND THE PROFANE JOIN

If we go back to the beginning of the Nineteenth century we find a situation which is in some ways similar to the one we find today: the Profane turns into the Sacred and, viceversa, the Sacred turns into the Profane. It all started when Napoleon in 1807 gave the city the bridge which is today called Vittorio Emanuele I (foto) and which was called Napoleon Bridge at that time.

THE SACRED: inside the bridge, in the foundation stone, the French hid a linear metre (to proudly claim the invention of this new unit of measurement) and 88 memorial medals and gold coins, symbol of continuity over time; the church of Santa Maria del Monte, part of the building complex of Cappuccini Mount, built in 1590 on Vitozzi's design in place of a military fortress called Motta or Bastia.

THE PROFANE: in the area surrounding the bridge ordinary people lived and worked. They ran workshops, laundries, mills and were fishermen, living in the Moschino district, which no longer exists; the settlements of the people who farmed the land in the hill area; Villa della Regina (the Queen's Villa) (foto) built by Cardinal Maurizio di Savoia as a place of leisure and fun, far from the turmoil of the city and the court.

1830: I MURAZZI DEL PO - THE PROFANE GETS STRONGER

Starting from 1830 they started building the Po Murazzi. The search for pleasure, which was first found on the hill, has changed place and shape since then.
Murazzi became a new meeting place and a fun resort, where you could swim and do sports. Turin took inspiration from the French way of life along the river and it was the first Italian city to promote it. In particular after World War I, a new idea of leisure time was born.

THE SACRED: the Savoys had the church of Gran Madre di Dio (foto) built to celebrate their coming back.

THE PROFANE: new meeting places were opened and, mainly in the hills, taverns with tables under the trees; there was more freedom of conduct. Indeed, within the rowing clubs on the river Po banks, men first and later women welcomed a new way of life: they sunbathed and swam, there was less modesty in showing their bodies in public and there were less taboos.

1900: THE PARKS IN THE HILLS - THE SACRED RESISTS

Between the 18th and the 19th century the hills got more and more inhabited and farmers and workers were soon living next to the Turinese bourgeois villas. The social gap was very large but these classes coexisted peacefully.Today, if you go walking in the hill parks (Villa Genero, for example), you can find a calm and cosy atmosphere.

TODAY: THE "MOVIDA", A SACRED AND PROFANE RITE

The meeting places, mostly crowded by young people, opened in the 90s.A sacred and profane rite, first destined to very few courageous night-loving people, today a phenomenon of a whole generation.