Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
10 Turin & the Alps
10
Olympic glory is only part of the story.
by Reid Bramblett
I T ' S OFTEN SAID THAT TURIN IS EITHER THE MOST FRENCH CITY IN ITALY
or the most Italian city in France. And it makes sense: From the 13th century
until Italy's 1861 unification (when the city served briefly as the new country's
capital), Turin was home to the House of Savoy, whose last three monarchs—
Vittorio Emanuele II, Umberto, and Vittorio Emanuele III—became the first
kings of Italy. The Savoys were as French as they were Italian, with holdings that
extended well into the present-day French regions of Savoy and the Côte d'Azur.
The city's Francophile 17th- and 18th-century architects laid out broad avenues
and airy piazze and lined them with low-slung neoclassical buildings.
Turin is also called the Italian Detroit, but that's largely because Fiat and tire
manufacturer Pirelli are based here. In every other respect, the comparison is
unfair. Turin is, in fact, the most genteel and elegant city in all of Northern Italy.
Wedged into Italy's northwest corner, Turin is capital of the Piemonte
(Piedmont) region, “at the foot of the mountains,” which are, in this case, the
Alps. Dramatic peaks are visible throughout the Piemonte, most of which rises
and rolls over the fertile foothills that produce a rich bounty of cheeses, truffles,
and, of course, wines—among them some of Italy's most delicious reds:
Barbaresco, Barbera, and Barolo (the last considered one of Italy's top beefy, yet
structured, wines).
TURIN
Most visitors come to Turin with business in mind, but those who take the time
to look around the historical center will find fine museums, excellent restaurants,
and a sophisticated city with scads of old-fashioned class.
As I write this, Turin is in the final stages of gearing up to host the 2006
Winter Olympics. Palazzi are wrapped in scaffolding, streets and squares torn up
to put in new parking lots and a subway system, and Piazza Castello is being
transformed into a medals stage for the ceremonies. The promises are that the city
will be brighter and better than ever, with long-closed sights such as the Palazzo
Madama finally reopened to the public. (At press time, the palazzo was scheduled
to reopen in the fall of 2006.)
This also means that you should take assertions of fact in this chapter with a
grain of salt, as everything from open hours and admission prices to how the city
infrastructure will operate after the Games is still up in the air as we go to press.
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