Europe - It’s a Tick for Torino
Turin or Torino as it’s known in Italian is one of the hidden gems of Italy. Milan, less than 2 hours away, may have the reputation, but Turin has elegance in spades.
The centre of the city is filled with large piazzas surrounded by majestic palaces, residences and castles built by the Savoy Dynasty - they arrived in Turin when it was still a medieval city and immediately made it the capital of the Duchy of Savoy, setting in motion a vast building programme that brought a new lease of life to Turin, transforming it into a metropolis with strong connections to the royal courts throughout Europe.
The history of the Savoy Dynasty is fascinating - you can read about it by clicking on this bookmark:
Situated on the Po River and the capital of the Piedmont region surrounded by the alps, Turin was the capital of a unified Italy from 1861 to 1865.
Spacious domed, covered colonnades and arcades radiate from the piazzas, lined with elegant shops, historic bars and cafes. Turin is often shrouded in thick fog and subject to changeable weather which we experienced on our 2-hour walking tour.
We arrived to sunny skies, in no time thick clouds burst with torrential rain - where were our umbrellas and raincoats? In the bus of course!
There are many homeless people living rough in these arcades and plenty of Sudanese selling sunglasses, souvenirs and yes umbrellas! For 5 euros I now own a bright pink umbrella that I didn’t really need! The wide arcades a godsend as our guide inundated us with facts, figures and history - most of which were quickly forgotten.
It was a joy though to wander through what seemed never ending spacious arcades, adorned with original porticos, scrolls, statues along with modern advertisements, lots of graffiti. Tables spill out from cafes, locals and tourists alike enjoying a bicerin, a local layered drink made with coffee, chocolate, and cream.
We visited the St John the Baptist Cathedral to view the Shroud of Turin - more accurately the covered glass encased cabinet in which a linen cloth is held, said to be the burial garment of Jesus preserved since 1578.
Images on the shroud show the back and front of a gaunt, sunken-eyed man with markings matching stigmata and stains presumed to be blood. It is said to be the most studied artefact in human history, yet there is still no evidence to support the claim it’s the shroud of Jesus Christ.
The city reminded me a lot of Paris, with its wide tree lined boulevards. They say cafe society began in Turin, today it’s the home of Lavazza coffee and in recent years, the slow food movement started here - Italians dislike the whole concept of fast food, despite a few McDonald’s outlets.
The Piedmont region has some of the best food in Italy. More than 160 types of cheese and the concept of chocolate for eating as we know it today (bars and pieces) originated in Turin. The chocolate-hazelnut sauce, gianduja, is a specialty.
We had less than ½ a day in this interesting city - rather than ticking it off our list, we’d love to spend more time in Turin - enjoying leisurely repasts of the slow food movement, sumptuous chocolate, exploring the many palaces and residences of the Savoy family as well visiting severals museums – eg Turin has the largest Egyptian museum outside of Cairo - all the artefacts purchased through legitimate channels - a rare accolade.
It’s always sad to say goodbye to Italy - but we were in store for one final Italian delight - in the atmospheric town of Aosta, which I will share with you soon.