All Squares in Turin

Piazza Castello is the heart of the historical center of Turin, where the four main axes of the city converge – Via Garibaldi, Via Po, Via Roma and Via Pietro Micca.   SHORT HISTORY OF PIAZZA CASTELLO The square was born in the 1st century AD near the eastern entrance of the ancient Roman castrum of Julia Augusta Taurinorum. With the consolidation of the Savoy state, and the movement of the capital from Chambéry to Turin in 1563, a vast project of modernization of the city began. In 1583, Ascanio Vittozzi was called to design the shape of what will be the current square. The design envisaged an area of about 40,000 square meters. The existing medieval castle in the center of the square was modernized in 1605 and connected to the Bishop’s Palace by a wall. The wall was demolished in the early 19th century, during the Napoleonic occupation. Ascanio Vitozzi died in 1615 and the direction of the works passed to Carlo di Castellamonte, who, in 1619, had the porticoes built on the southern side of the square, due to the opening of Via Nuova, the current Via Roma. Palazzo Reale (Royal Palace) was built starting with 1643, Read more [...]

Piazza Carlo Alberto is a pedestrianized square in the historical center of Turin, located between Via Cesare Battisti and Via Principe Amedeo.   SHORT HISTORY OF PIAZZA CARLO ALBERTO The square takes its name from the King of Sardinia Carlo Alberto I, son of Carlo Emanuele, Prince of Carignano. The princes of Carignano owned the palace of the same name, whose 19th-century facade overlooks the square. The area was reorganized between 1842 and 1859 by demolishing the surrounding walls and creating the square. In 2006, after long debates, Piazza Carlo Alberto became entirely pedestrian.   INTERESTING FACT: In the northern part of the square, on the third floor of a building on the corner of Via Cesare Battisti with Via Carlo Alberto, Friedrich Nietzsche lived between 1888 and 1889. There, he wrote The Antichrist, The Twilight of the Idols and Ecce Homo.   ART AND ARCHITECTURE OF PIAZZA CARLO ALBERTO On the western side of the square, there is Palazzo Carignano, commissioned in the second part of the 17th century by Emmanuel Philibert of Savoy, Prince of Carignano, to the architect Guarino Guarini. In 1831, Carlo Alberto became the King of Sardinia, and the palace was ceded to the State Read more [...]

Piazza San Carlo, nicknamed by the locals the living room of the city, is one of the most important squares in Turin. The square is located in the historical center of the city, bordered by Via Santa Teresa and Via Maria Vittoria to the north, and by Via Vittorio Alfieri and Via Giovanni Giolitti to the south. Via Roma, which passes through the center of the square, connects Piazza San Carlo with Piazza Castello, to the north, and with Piazza Carlo Felice, to the south.   SHORT HISTORY OF PIAZZA SAN CARLO When Turin became the capital of the Duchy of Savoy in 1563, it was decided to expand the city towards the south, creating the so-called Borgo Nuovo. The idea began to materialize in 1617, when the architect Carlo di Castellamonte was called to design both the Contrada Nuova, now Via Roma, and the current square. The works for the square began in 1618 and were completed in 1638. The square was inaugurated during the same year by Christine of France, widow of Vittorio Amedeo I, and named Piazza Reale (Royal Square). The perimeter arcades were built later, between 1643 and 1646. During this period, the square was used Read more [...]