(Redirected from Turin, Italy)
'Turin' (;
Piedmontese: ''Turin'' pronounced []) is a major industrial
city as well as a business and cultural centre in northern
Italy,
capital of the
Piedmont region, located mainly on the west
bank of the
Po River. The
population of the city of Turin is 908,000 (
2004 census); its
agglomeration totals about 1.7 million inhabitants, while its
metropolitan area has a population of 2.2 million of inhabitants (according to the
OECD [1]. The company
Fiat automobile manufacturer has its headquarters here, so Turin has been nicknamed as the Automobile Capital of Italy. It was the first capital of the
unified Italy.
[2]
History
Etymology
The name of Turin comes from ''Tau'', a
Celtic word that means ''mountains''. Its
Italian name, ''Torino'', translates as "little bull"; hence the coat of arms and the symbol of the city. The area was settled by the
Taurini in pre-
Roman times.
Roman Times
In the
first century BC (probably 28 BC), the Romans created a military camp (''Castra Taurinorum''), later dedicated to
Augustus (''Augusta Taurinorum''). The typical Roman street grid can still be seen in the modern city. Turin reached about 5,000 inhabitants at the time, all living inside the high walls.
Middle Ages
After the fall of the Roman empire the city was conquered by the
Lombards, then the
Franks of
Charlemagne (773); in the 940s the ''
March of Turin'' (or countship) was founded, until 1050 held by the
Arudinic dynasty and then, after the marriage of
Adelaide of Susa with
Humbert Biancamano's son
Otto, by the family of the
Counts of Savoy. While the dignity of count was held by the Bishop as count of Turin (1092-1130 and 1136-1191) it was ruled as a
prince-bishopric by the Bishops. In 1230-1235 it was a lordship under the
Marquess of Montferrat, styled Lord of Turin.
At the end of the thirteenth century, when it was annexed to the
Duchy of Savoy, the city already had 20,000 inhabitants. Many of the gardens and palaces were built in the fifteenth century when the city was redesigned. The
University was also founded during this period.
16-18th Century
Emanuele Filiberto (Iron Head) made Turin the capital of the
Duchy of Savoy in
1563. Piazza Reale, today named Piazza San Carlo and Via Nuova, today called Via Roma were added with the first enlargement of the walls, in the first half of the XVII century; in the same period the Royal palace (Palazzo Reale) was built. In the second half of that century, a second enlargement of the walls was planned and executed, with the building of the arcaded Via Po, connecting diagonally through the regular street grid Piazza Castello with the bridge on the Po.
In
1706, during the
Battle of Turin, the
French besieged the city for 117 days without conquering it. After the subsequent
Treaty of Utrecht, the
Kingdom of Sardinia was annexed to the Duchy of Savoy and the architect
Filippo Juvarra began a major redesign of the city. Now the capital of a European kingdom, Turin had about 90,000 inhabitants at the time.
19th Century
In the nineteenth century, after brief occupation by
Napoleon, the city began to actively pursue the
unification of Italy. In 1871, the
Fréjus Tunnel was opened, making Turin an important communication node. The city now had 250,000 inhabitants. The
Museo Egizio, the
Mole Antonelliana, the
Gran Madre church and Vittorio Veneto square were built in this period.
View over Turin and Alps.
In
1861, Turin became the capital of the newly proclaimed United Italy. In
1864 the capital was moved to
Florence. (Since
8th July 1871, the capital has been
Rome.) Turin reacted to the loss of importance by beginning a rapid industrialisation: in
1899 FIAT was founded and
Lancia in
1906. The
Universal Exposition held in Turin in
1902 is often considered the pinnacle of
Art Nouveau design, and the city hosted the Exposition again in
1911. By this time, Turin had grown to 430,000 inhabitants.
20th Century
After
World War I, conflicts between workers and industrialists began. The first strikes took place and in
1920 the
Lingotto factory was occupied.
After
World War II, Turin was rapidly rebuilt and its industries greatly developed, which caused waves of immigration, largely from the southern regions of Italy. The population reached 1 million in
1960 and peaked at 1.5 million in
1975. In the 1980s, the first industrial crisis hit the city and its population began to decline (and continues to, while the metropolitan area grows). The
2005 population is 908,000.
Law and government
The mayor of Turin is directly elected every five years.
Sergio Chiamparino, the current mayor, belongs to the center-left coalition.
Geography and climate
Turin is located in northwest Italy.
It is surrounded on the western and northern front by the
Alps and on the southern front by the hills of
Monferrato.
Four major rivers pass through the city: the
Po and two of its tributaries, the
Dora Riparia (later changed to "Duria Minor" by the Romans, from the
Celtic ''duria'' meaning "water"), the
Stura di Lanzo, and the
Sangone.
Turin has a truly continental climate, with nothing to share with the rest of
Italy which is famous for its comfortable
Mediterranean climate.
Winters are cold and dry, summers are cool in the hills and quite hot in the plains. During the winter and autumn months banks of fog, which are sometimes very thick, form in the plains.
[2]
Demographics
In 2005, Torino city proper had a population of 902,255 up from 867,857 (+3.82 increase), while the metropolitan area contained a total 2,236,941 inhabitants. Like many cities in Italy, the population is highly aged as 14.5 percent of the population is under 18, while those of retirement age constitute 30.12 percent. Despite this, the population of Torino grew mostly from internal migrants from other areas of
Italy, as well as an increasing amount of foreigners particularly from
Eastern Europe.
[3]
The city has seen a large influx of foreigners over the last few decades comprising just under 9 per cent of the city's population consisted of foreigners, the largest being Romanian (23,114), Moroccan (14,134), Peruvian (5,502), Albanian (4,297), and Chinese (3,533).
[4]
Economy
Today the city is a major industrial center, where the headquarters and main production lines of the
car company Fiat are located. The city is home to the
Lingotto building, which was at one time the largest car factory in the
world, and now houses a
convention centre, a
concert hall, an art gallery, a shopping centre and a
hotel. Other companies founded in Turin are
Lancia,
Pininfarina,
Bertone,
Sparco,
Italdesign,
Ghia,
Fioravanti,
Stola,
Intesa Sanpaolo,
Superga,
Invicta (1821),
Lavazza,
Martini & Rossi,
Kappa and the chocolate factory
Caffarel.
The city is also well known for its aerospace industry (
Alenia). The
Multi-Purpose Logistics Modules for the
International Space Station were produced in Turin. The future European launcher projects beyond
Ariane 5 will also be managed from Turin, by the new
NGL company, a subsidiary of
EADS (70%) and
Finmeccanica (30%).
Turin is also the birthplace of some of the country's main companies, such as
Telecom Italia (telecommunications),
Rai (television), and cinema. Most of these industries have since moved their headquarters to other parts of
Italy, but Turin still retains the National Museum of Cinema (in the Mole Antonelliana building).
Transportation infrastructure
The town currently has a large number of rail and road work sites. Although this activity has increased as a result of the
2006 Winter Olympics, parts of it had long been planned. Some of the work sites deal with general roadworks to improve traffic flow, such as underpasses and flyovers, but two projects are of major importance and will change the shape of the town radically.
One is the ''Spina'' ("spine") which includes the doubling of a major railroad crossing the town. The railroad previously ran in a trench, which will now be covered by a major boulevard. The town rail station on this line will become the main station of Turin (''Porta Susa'').
The other major project is the construction of a subway line based on the
VAL system, known as
Metrotorino. This project is expected to continue for years and to cover a larger part of the town, but its first phase was finished in time for the Olympic Games (inaugurated on 4 February
2006 and opened to the public the day after). This first leg of the subway system links the nearby town of
Collegno with the
Porta Susa station in Turin's town centre; the next leg extending the service to the 'Porta Nuova' railway station is expected by September
2007. This underground transportation project has historical importance for Turin, as the town has dreamed of an underground line for decades, the first project dating as far back as the twenties. In fact, the main street in the town centre (''Via Roma'') runs atop a tunnel built during the fascist era (when ''Via Roma'' was built). The tunnel was supposed to host the underground line but is now used as an underground car park. A project to build an underground system was ready in the seventies, with government funding for it and for similar projects in
Milan and
Rome; whilst the other two cities went ahead with the projects, Turin local government led by mayor
Diego Novelli shelved the proposal as it believed it to be too costly and unnecessary, but that only meant more funding for Rome and Milan.
Main sights
:''For a complete list of Turin's landmarks, see:
The best known building of the city is the
Mole Antonelliana, whose construction began in 1863 and which today houses the National Cinema Museum.
The
Palatine Towers are among the best preserved Roman remains in northern Italy.
The
Cathedral of St John the Baptist houses the
Shroud of Turin, an old linen cloth with an imprint of a
man, which is believed by many to be the cloth that covered
Jesus in his grave.
Nearby is the former royal residence: the seventeenth-century
Palazzo Reale, built for Madama Reale
Christine Marie of France.
The
Museo Egizio has the most important collection of
Egyptian antiquities in the world after the Cairo Museum.
Turin has buildings of great historical and architectural interest: the
Savoy Residences. In addition to the Royal Palace (the official residence of the Savoys until 1865) there are many palaces, residences and castles in the city centre and in the surrounding towns. Turin is home to Palazzo Chiablese, the Royal Armoury, the Royal Library,
Palazzo Madama,
Palazzo Carignano,
Villa della Regina, and the Valentino Castle.
The complex of the
Residences of the Royal House of Savoy in Turin and in the nearby cities of Rivoli, Moncalieri, Venaria, Agliè, Racconigi, Stupinigi, Pollenzo and Govone was declared in
1997 a
World Heritage Sites by
UNESCO.
In the hills overlooking the city is the basilica church of
Superga, providing a view of Turin against a backdrop of the snow-capped
Alps. The basilica holds the tombs of many of the dukes of Savoy, as well as many of the kings of Sardinia. Superga can be reached by means of the
Superga Rack Railway from the suburb of Sassi.
The city was the film set of the
1969 film ''
The Italian Job'' and ''
Deep Red'' (
1975), directed by Italian horror filmmaker
Dario Argento.
Universities
★
University of Turin (
Università degli Studi di Torino)
★
Politecnico di Torino
Publishing and journalism
After
Alexandria,
Madrid,
New Delhi,
Antwerp and
Montreal, Turin has been chosen by
UNESCO as
World Book Capital for the year
2006. The
International Book Fair is one of the most important fairs of its kind in Europe.
Turin is home to one of Italy’s principal national newspapers,
La Stampa, and to the sports daily
Tuttosport.
Sport
Rowing
Turin was the city where the
FISA (international rowing federation) was born in 1892.
Football
The city is famous for two very successful
football teams:
Juventus F.C. (founded 1897), and
Torino F.C. (founded 1906).
Juventus F.C. is the most popular football club in Italy, and historically
[3] one of the most prestigious
[4] and glorious
football clubs in the world, having won a total of 51 official trophies:
[5] 40 in Italian tournaments and 11
[6] in the international competitions,
[7] all recognized by
Union of European Football Association and
International Federation of Association Football.
In
1949, a plane carrying the whole
Torino F.C. team (at that time the most important in Italy and known as the
Grande Torino)
hit the church of Superga, on the Turin hills.
Valentino Mazzola (one of the best Italian players of all times), father of Ferruccio and
Sandro Mazzola (who were later to become football champions) were among those who died.
Olympic Games
Turin was the host of the
2006 Winter Olympics.
Other international championships hosted
;1934 :
1934 European Championships in Athletics
;1959 :
I Summer Universiade
;1970 :
VI Summer Universiade
;2006 :
37th Chess Olympiad
:World
Fencing Championship (
Official site)
;2007 :
Winter Universiade Games
;2008 : 23rd European
Rhythmic Gymnastics (Calisthenics) Championships
;2009 :
IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics
Other sports
Volleyball
The ''C.U.S. Torino'' volleyball team won 4 times the domestic league and, in season 1979/80 the Volleyball European Champion's Cup. It was the first team from western Europe to win this competition. In the 1990s, the team had been dismantled due to economical issues.
Chocolate
Turin is the birth place of solid chocolate. It was in Turin that, at the end of the 18th century, Mr
Doret invented a revolutionary machine that could make solid chocolate (as opposed to drinking chocolate). Turin chocolate firms produce a typical
chocolate, called ''
Gianduiotto'' , named after
Gianduja, a local
Commedia dell'arte mask; plus many other kinds of chocolate. Every year the town organizes cioccolaTO', a two-week chocolate festival run with the main Piedmontese chocolate producers, such as
Venchi and others, as well as some big international companies, such as
Lindt & Sprüngli.
Nearby towns
Turin is surrounded by several smaller cities in the Province of Turin such as
Grugliasco,
Rivoli,
Chivasso,
Venaria,
Settimo Torinese,
Orbassano,
Moncalieri,
Avigliana,
Buttigliera Alta,
Gassino Torinese,
Nichelino,
Collegno,
Pino Torinese,
Chieri,
Ciriè,
Ivrea,
Pinerolo and others, that make up one of Italy's primary metropolitan areas.
Notable natives
★
Giovanni Agnelli (1866-1945), founder of
FIAT.
★
Gianni Agnelli (1921-2003), influential chairman director of
FIAT.
★
Giuliano Amato (born 1938), politician, former Prime Minister of
Italy.
★
Amedeo Avogadro (1776-1856),
physicist.
★
Alessandro Baricco (born 1958), writer.
★
Fred Buscaglione (1921-1960), singer and songwriter.
★
Giuseppe Marc'Antonio Baretti (1719-1789), critic.
★
Camillo Benso, count of Cavour, politician (
Italian unification).
★
Norberto Bobbio (1909-2004), historian and philosopher.
★
Arturo Brachetti
★
Carla Bruni (born 1968), supermodel.
★
Pierre Paul Caffarel (1795-1850), founder of the first
chocolate factory in the world.
★
Antonio Benedetto Carpano (1764-1815), inventor of
vermouth and
apéritif.
★
Leo Chiosso (1920-2006), lyricist, songwriter with
Fred Buscaglione.
★
Robert Fano (1917-2004), engineer.
★
Galileo Ferraris (1847-1897), physicist and electrical engineer.
★
Piero Gobetti (1901-1926), intellectual.
★
Joseph Louis Lagrange (1736-1813), mathematician.
★
Vincenzo Lancia (1881-1937), sportsman and businessman, founder of
Lancia.
★
Luigi Lavazza (1859-1949), inventor and
coffee businessman.
★
Carlo Levi (1902-1975), painter and writer.
★
Primo Levi (1919-1987), chemist, philosopher,
Holocaust survivor and writer.
★
Salvador Edward Luria (1912-1991), winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
★
Alessandro Martini (1812-1905), vermouth businessman.
★
Mau Mau (formed 1991), rock band.
★
Carlo Mollino (1905-1973), architect and designer.
★
Rita Levi-Montalcini (1909), winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
★
Adriano Olivetti (1901-1960), businessman.
★
Giuseppe Peano (1858-1932), mathematician.
★
Aurelio Peccei (1908-1984), founder of the
Club of Rome.
★
Gabry Ponte, DJ member of
Eiffel 65.
★
Tullio Regge (born 1931), physicist
★
Piero Sraffa (1898-1983), economist.
★
Subsonica (formed 1996), rock band.
★
Massimo Taparelli, marquis d'Azeglio (1798-1866), statesman, novelist and painter.
★
Umberto Tozzi (1952), singer.
★
Gianni Vattimo (1936), philosopher.
★
Victor Emmanuel II of Italy (1820-1878), King of
Piedmont and the first King of the united Italy.
Notable residents
Main articles: List of people associated with Turin
★
Alessandro Del Piero
★
Edmondo de Amicis
★
St. John Bosco
★
Francesco Faà di Bruno
★
Italo Calvino
★
Gaspare Campari
★
Francesco Cirio
★
Renato Dulbecco
★
Umberto Eco
★
Luigi Einaudi
★
Erasmus
★
Guido Fubini
★
Natalia Ginzburg
★
Antonio Gramsci
★
Primo Levi
★
Cesare Lombroso
★
Joseph de Maistre
★
Giulio Natta
★
Friedrich Nietzsche
★
Vilfredo Pareto
★
Cesare Pavese
★
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
★
Emilio Salgari
★
Ascanio Sobrero
★
Germain Sommeiller
★
Gianni Vattimo
★
Elio Vittorini
Twin cities
★
Chambéry,
France
★
Cologne,
Germany
★
Detroit,
USA
★
Volgograd,
Russia
★
Rotterdam,
Netherlands
★
Esch-sur-Alzette,
Luxemburg
★
Liège,
Belgium
★
Lille,
France
★
Campo Grande,
Brazil
★
Córdoba,
Argentina
★
Glasgow,
Scotland
★
Salt Lake City,
USA
★
Haifa,
Israel
★
Nagoya,
Japan
★
Quetzaltenango,
Guatemala
★
Shenyang,
China
★
Warsaw,
Poland
References
★
Footnotes
1. http://demo.istat.it/bilmens2006/index.html- ISTAT demographics
2. The city's history
3. World Clubs All-time ranking .
4. Juventus building bridges in Serie B .
5. Record for Italian football. The other Italian main clubs, Milan and Inter, have won a total of 42 and 29 official titles, respectively.
6. European team profiles: Juventus F.C. .
7. Only Boca Juniors -with 16 titles- and other three clubs: Independiente, Real Madrid and Milan -all with 15 titles- have won more official international titles in the world.
External links
★
The official institutional site — website version is in
Italian - Also some pages in
English,
German,
Spanish,
French,
Romanian,
Arabic, and
Albanian
★
Turismo Torino The official tourist guide, available in
English,
Italian,
French,
Spanish and
German.
★
Experimental interactive maps — website version is in
Italian.
★
Photo Gallery Piedmont and Turin.
★
Turin 2006 Olympic Games —
English,
Italian and
French. Website version is in
Italian.
★
CityMayors article.
★
Winter Universiade Torino 2007 —
English,
Italian and
French. Website Version is
Italian.
★
Torino Film Festival
★
Guide to Turin city — information and useful link.
★
International Book Fair.
★
National Cinema Museum of Italy.
★
Postcards from Turin.
★
WorldStatesmen- Italy
★
Photos of Turin
★
Old Pictures of Turin
★
Turin Photo Gallery
★
Turin in a weekend - video guide
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