The world turns to Turin

[Photos: Christina Zarobe] Visitors stroll by the front of the grand Palazzo Reale, the royal palace.

By CHRISTINA ZAROBE
© St. Petersburg Times
published February 24, 2002

The intriguing city, long one of Italy's best-kept secrets, is host for the 2006 Winter Olympics.

TURIN, Italy -- For a century, this city was synonymous with the car giant Fiat. Italy's unemployed, mostly from the south and eager for a job, flocked to the northwestern city. Few tourists ever made the trek, though.

Consequently, only the occasional, adventurous, traveler and Turin's residents knew of its treasures: a stellar Egyptian museum, lavish baroque palaces, ancient Roman ruins, grand piazzas and tree-lined avenues. And those who did know weren't telling the rest of us.

The ruins of the Tower of Alda the Beautiful stand on a mountain at Piedmont’s Sacra di San Michele, the Abbey of St. Michael.

Well, the word is out. Turin, at the foothills of the Alps, will host the next Winter Olympics, to be held in 2006. The Olympic village and competitions such as ice skating, snow boarding and alpine skiing will be located in Turin and the nearby ski resorts of Bardonecchia and Sestriere. Events ranging from the bobsled to ice hockey are slated for at least a half dozen other towns in the Piedmont region.

Meanwhile, to most travelers, Turin is still thought of as merely a gritty manufacturing center. Perhaps a few have heard of its shadowy reputation for black magic and the supernatural. For sun-worshipping Italians, it's been mislabeled as a region of frigid temperatures and perpetually gray skies.

Yet it is really a city of intriguing contrasts. This is the place where the aperitif vermouth made its debut. And here, chocolate connoisseurs carry the clout of auto executives: According to local lore, when the Swiss wanted to learn how to make the confection, they turned to Turin.

Avid fans cheer two world-class soccer teams, Juventus and Torino, yet elegant, historic cafes -- in numbers as great as any Italian city -- fill with beautiful people.

And yes, it is also the city where the pint-sized Cinquecento cars are mass-produced by the millions.

My husband and I grew fond of this quirky place during a two-year corporate relocation. Now I am thankful we were not assigned to Florence or Rome. Lovely places, but we shared Turin with, at best, 75 other American expatriates.

Around the piazza

When we return to Turin for a visit, we will stay in the center of town, for walking is the easiest way to tour it. The tourist's downtown basically stretches in a triangle from Piazza Carlo Felice to Piazzo Castello to the Po River. Following Via Roma northward from Piazza Carlo Felice, the big names in high fashion -- Armani, Hermes, Bruno Magli, Versace -- have tony shops.

Characteristic of the old city are these arched porticoes.

Shielding the sidewalks along Via Roma is one of Turin's most charming characteristics, its porticos. The city's spacious avenues, impressive piazzas and its porticos are all enduring reminders of a noble past. The French Savoy family ruled here for almost 500 years, and Turin served as Italy's first capital, in the mid 1800s.

This regal bearing is also evident in the Piedmontese people. Unlike the Romans or Neapolitans, they are not saucy, fiery or flashy. The locals are reserved and gracious.

Continuing along Via Roma, there are lovely old cafes and newer chocolate shops, including Caffi San Carlo and Caffi Torino, anchoring Piazza San Carlo. But I always held out for Caffe Baratti & Milano, across from Piazza Castello.

The piazza, an enormous square, is framed by splendid palaces. It is a wonderful place to savor an hour, sipping a cup of cioccolata calda, hot chocolate.

But the immediate area is also the cultural center of Turin.

One block from Piazza Castello, on Via Accademia delle Scienze, is one of the city's premier institutions, the Egyptian Museum. Billed as second only to Cairo's, the museum's collection is vast. Sadly, many of the antiquities are displayed in poorly lit, old showcases. But the statues of pharaohs and rows of mummies make up for it.

Visitors can easily spend a full day touring the historic sites around the piazza: the Palazzo Reale, the church of San Lorenzo, and the Duomo di San Giovanni.

Construction on the Palazzo Reale began in the mid 1600s. Guided tours, in Italian, are the only way to visit the palace, but the elaborately decorated interior is worth the linguistic inconvenience. Particularly striking is the ballroom, with its delicately painted windows designed to keep commoners from seeing just how extravagantly the royalty lived.

One of Turin's tourist information offices is strategically located on the same side of Piazza Castello as San Lorenzo. The church's facade could not be more plain, but inside the architectural genius of Guarino Guarini is a visual treat, particularly the cupola.

Behind the Palazzo Reale is the Duomo di San Giovanni, which houses the controversial and mysterious Shroud of Turin, said to be Jesus' burial shroud.

A Just down the street from the cathedral are the ruins of Roman walls, towers and cobbled streets at Porta Palatina. Turin's beginnings date from the Third Century, when tribes of Celtic and Gaul descendants inhabited the area. But it was Julius Caesar himself who established a military outpost here in 29 B.C.

Past the gardens of the Palazzo Reale, turning onto Via Giuseppe Verdi, is one of Turin's oddest attractions, the dazzling and imaginative National Museum of Cinema.

Built between 1863 and 1897 as a synagogue, the Mole Antonelliana now houses the 2-year-old museum. The unusually shaped structure, a square dome with an ornate spire, has become a towering symbol of the city.

The museum celebrates the film works of Hollywood and also of Turin, once home to more than 100 production companies. It is touted as the world's tallest museum, with a glass-enclosed elevator that whisks visitors to an observation platform at 278 feet, for an awesome view of Turin and the Alps.

While in the neighborhood of the piazza, make a note of Ristorante del Cambio's location. Established in 1757, del Cambio's crimson, velvet-cushioned chairs and gilt mirrors create a luxurious dining experience in what some consider one of Europe's prettiest restaurants.

The Roman ruins of Turin include cobbled streets, towers and the Porta Palatina, the once-mighty fortress shown here.

On the river, and beyond

If the cultural and historic heart of Turin is downtown, the city's soul lies along the Po River. The river is Italy's longest, stretching from the border with France to the Adriatic Sea. Year-round the paths along the riverbanks are bustling with dog walkers, joggers and bicyclists.

Below Piazza Vittorio Veneto, boat rides are available to the Borgo Medioevale -- the medieval village -- farther down the river. The village was built for the Turin Exposition in 1884, and its small cluster of houses and workshops are reproductions of 15th-century Piedmontese and Aosta Valley buildings. The location is the real attraction, but the village is also a fun diversion.

On the opposite side of the river, gently rolling hills nearly topple into the Po, separated only by a shady, wide avenue. Tranquil villages top some of the hills.

The Po River winds through Turin.

A few miles away stands the imposing Basilica of Superga. The drive through lush parkland leads to the 18th-century basilica and one of the finest vistas of Turin. On a clear day, the bright yellow and white fagade of Superga glistens against a blue sky.

The surrounding Piedmont is a fairy-tale setting: verdant hills covered with a patchwork of vineyards, and thousand-year-old castles overlooking picturesque villages. Recently, Piedmont has also gained a reputation as a culinary and wine center. Beyond fine dining, the region is a playground for winter sports enthusiasts, with the Alps at its boundaries.

About 18 miles west of Turin is the town of Avigliana, tucked between two glacier-fed lakes. Wander its narrow streets lined with medieval houses and stop for lunch at Ristorante Corona Grossa.

Refueled, continue on to the magnificent Sacra di San Michele, originally built from 983 to 987 on a ridge more than 3,200 feet high. The abbey is one of the largest Romanesque complexes in Europe.

For me, Sacra di San Michele is one of the most spiritually moving sacred sites. I'm not sure whether it's the phenomenal location or the mighty structure itself that's so memorable.

Unpretentious, the Langhe and Monferrato areas of Piedmont are an ideal spot to wind down. Situated southeast of Turin, the local vineyards produce several of Italy's finest vintages, including Barbera, Barolo and Barbaresco.

Unassuming and welcoming shops, called enotece, offer wine tasting and advice on area vintages. And, in the nearby woods grows a costly culinary delicacy, white truffles.

Now back in the States again, I'm often asked where we lived before moving to central Massachusetts. I get mostly puzzled looks with my answer, Turin. But four years down the road, with the next Winter Olympics, Turin finally will be the center of the world's attention.

If you go

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Go to these Web sites:

www.comune.torino.it; click on the English-language icon.

www.turismotorino.org.

More details are available at the city tourism offices at Piazza Castello 161, call 011-535181, and Stazione Porta Nuova, call 011-531327. The country code for Italy is 39.

-- Christina Zarobe now lives in Shrewsbury, Mass.

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright