HISTORY OF TURIN:
The area of today’s Turin (Torino) was settled in the third century BC by a Celto-Ligurian tribe known as the Taurini. Here, in 58 BC, Julius Caesar installed a military garrison, called Iulia Taurinorum, which became later a real castrum (Roman fortress). Read More [...]
After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, Turin passed under the control of the Ostrogoths, then of the Lombards, and later of the Franks of Charlemagne. In 940, the Marquisate of Turin was founded, which was controlled by the so-called Arduinic dynasty until 1050.
Later, the city became a free municipality, undergoing various dominations, until 1280, when it became part of the County of Savoy. In 1563, by order of the Duke Emmanuel Philibert of Savoy, the city became the capital of the Duchy of Savoy, and was equipped with modern walls and a pentagonal citadel.
Turin, along with the rest of Piedmont, was annexed by the French Empire in 1802. In 1814, after the fall of Napoleon, the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia was restored, with the capital in Turin. In the following decades, the city led the struggle towards the Italian unification of 1861, when it became the first capital of the newly proclaimed Kingdom of Italy.
GEOGRAPHY OF TURIN:
Today, Turin is a city of about 850.000 inhabitants, located in the Italian region of Piedmont. The city is surrounded to the west and north by the Alps and to the east by the hills of Monferrato. Turin is crossed by the Po River and three of its tributaries: Dora Riparia, Stura di Lanzo and Sangone. Read More [...]
Turin is located 140 kilometers southwest of Milan, 160 kilometers northwest of Genoa, 330 kilometers northwest of Bologna and about the same distance northwest of Pisa, 400 kilometers northwest of Florence, 410 kilometers west of Venice, 540 kilometers northwest of Perugia, 650 kilometers northwest of Rome, 875 kilometers northwest of Naples, 985 kilometers northwest of Bari, and about 1360 kilometers northwest of Reggio Calabria.
TRANSPORT TO/IN TURIN:
The closest airport to Turin is the Turin-Caselle Airport, also known as the Sandro Pertini Airport, located about 16 kilometers to the north, in Caselle Torinese. Read More [...]
To get from the airport to the city center and vice versa, you can take one of the Arriva buses. A trip takes about 45 minutes, and a ticket costs 7.50€ at the ticket office and 8.50€ if bought on board.
By train, you can get to Turin from Milan in about 1 hour and 50 minutes, from Genoa in about 2 hours, and from Bologna in about 5 hours. The cheapest ticket from Milan costs 12.45€, from Genoa is 12.90€, and from Bologna costs 26.90€.
Turin has an efficient transport system managed by the GTT transport company (Gruppo Torinese Trasporti), and within the city limits you can travel by tram, bus or underground. Regardless of what means of transport you choose, a single ticket costs 1.70€, a daily pass is 4.00€ and a 7-day pass costs 17.50€.
TOURIST ATTRACTIONS IN TURIN:
Turin has a rich culture and history, and houses numerous attractions, such as palaces, churches, squares, museums, art galleries, gardens and parks. The city is well known for its Baroque, Rococo, Neoclassical, and Art Nouveau architecture. Read More [...]
The most important attractions of Turin are: Mole Antonelliana, home of the National Museum of Cinema, the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist (Cattedrale di San Giovanni Battista), which houses the famous Shroud of Turin, Palazzo Madama, which housed the first Senate of the Kingdom of Italy and is now home to the Museum of Ancient Art of Turin, Palazzo Carignano, which houses the Museum of the Risorgimento, the Royal Palace of Turin (Palazzo Reale), the first and most important residence of the House of Savoy, and the Egyptian Museum (Museo Egizio), which has the second most important Egyptian antiquities collection in the world after the Museum of Cairo.
The city has many wonderful squares, of which we can mention Piazza Castello, Piazza San Carlo, Piazza Palazzo di Città, known in the past as Piazza delle Erbe, Piazza Vittorio Veneto, Piazza Carlo Alberto, and Piazza Statuto.