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Turin
Majestic and imposing, the River Po crosses Turin offering to whoever wants to discover the city by taking a ride along th water, a route rich with surprises. The industrial vocation and the image of a city that is dedicated to work and technological innovation, has given a wrong impression of Turin: pushed into the background is the important fact of its peculiar geographical position framed by the Alpine peaks and the hills, its great wealth of parks and gardens, not to mention the unique attribute of the four separate rivers that cross the city - the Po, The Dora, the Stura and the Sangone - an environmental heritage that few cities in the world can boast. The name of Turin comes from Tau, a celtic word that means mountains. The Italian name, Torino, happens to mean "little bull" in Italian, hence the coat of arms and the symbol of the city. The area was settled by the Taurini in pre-Roman times. In the first century A.D., the Romans created a military camp (Castra Taurinorum), later dedicated to Augustus (Augusta Taurinorum). The typical Roman street plan with streets at right angles can still be seen in the modern city. The capital of the Duchy of Savoy since 16th century, the Kingdom of Sardinia and then in 1861 Turin became the capital of the newly proclaimed United Italy. In 1865 the capital was moved to Florence. Since 1870 the capital has been Rome. It is also a center for aerospace industry, with Alenia. Some major elements of the International Space Station, such as the Multi-Purpose Logistics Modules have been 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 major aspects of Italian economy, like telecommunications Telecom Italia, television (Rai, National TV channel) and cinema. Most of these industries have moved to other parts of Italy, but Turin still hosts the National Museum of Cinema. 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, part of it had been planned for a long time. Some of the work sites deal with general improvements to car traffic, like underpasses and flyovers. Two projects are of major impact 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 run 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 metropolitan underground line; the first phase of this project will finish in time for the Olympic Games and will link the nearby town of Collegno with the 'Porta Nuova' station in Turin's town centre, but the project is supposed to be extended in future years to cover a larger part of the town. 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 on top of a tunnel built during the fascist era (when 'Via Roma' was built); the tunnel was supposed to host the underground line and is now used as an underground car park. Sites of interest The Gran Madre Church from the Mole AntonellianaOne of its main symbols is the Mole Antonelliana, which hosts the National Cinema Museum of 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. The Museo Egizio has the most important collection of Egyptian antiquities in the world after the Cairo Museum. - Turin offers a circuit of great historical and architectural interest: the Savoy Residences. In addition to the Royal Palace, the official residence of the Savoys until 1865, the circuit includes palaces, residences and castles in the city centre and in the surrounding towns. Torino is home to Palazzo Chiablese, the Royal Armoury, the Royal Library, Palazzo Madama, Palazzo Carignano, Villa della Regina, and the Valentino Castle. In the area around the city, the castles of Rivoli, Moncalieri, Venaria, Agliè, Racconigi, and Govone can be visited. The Hunting Lodge by Juvarra can be admired in Stupinigi and there is also the royal estate in Pollenzo. Some of these (first and foremost Rivoli, the location of the Museum of the same name) host events, exhibitions and cultural initiatives not only of local interest. In 1997, this complex of historical buildings was recognised as a world heritage site by Unesco. - In the hills above the city is the basilica church of Superga, from where there is a splendid panorama of Turin against a backdrop of the snow-capped Alps. Superga can be reached by means of the Superga Rack Railway from the suburb of Sassi. - The city is also famous for being the film set of the 1969 classic film The Italian Job starring Michael Caine. It is possible to visit all the locations on a special tour. After Alexandria, Madrid, New Delhi, Antwerp and Montreal, Turin has been nominated by UNESCO as World Book Capital for the year 2006 because of its activity of book and reading promotion, especially with the International Book Fair, one of the most important fairs in Europe of its kind. From April 2006 to April 2007 Turin will host a festival called "Signs of Writing" composed of events, meetings, seminars, debates, letters, and performances.
The city is famous for its soccer teams (Juventus and Torino Calcio), and will host the 2006 Winter Olympics. One year later, in 2007 it will host the Winter Universiade. In a terrible air accident in 1949, a plane carrying the whole Torino football team (at that time one of the most important in Italy) hit the church of Superga, on the Turin hills. Among those who lost their lives was Valentino Mazzola, father of Ferruccio and Sandro Mazzola (who were also later to be football champions).
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Turin today is a dynamic reality engaged in a modernisation process unrivalled in Italy. From the city of motor car to a centre of advanced technology and integrated productive systems, following an original redevelopment project. Although it is internationally renowned as an industrial city and a capital of the motor car this, for Turin, is now a stereotype, an incomplete picture. Today, its image is different, more diverse: the city is oriented towards the new high-tech Europe, that of advanced research.
Turin has not only been the capital of the Savoy Kingdom; it is also the capital of the motor car industry, of the Alpine peaks and of the cinema: precious collections, testimony to these facts, are housed in some of the most important museums in the city. In the rooms of the National Motor Car Museum (Museo "Carlo Biscaretti di Ruffia") it is possible to follow the evolution of the motor car, from the earliest steam-powered vehicles to the modern mass production models, from successful racing cars to the latest products of ecological research. In particular, four projects are worthy examples: the former Lingotto car factory has been converted to a complex with modern services, cultural venues and a hotel; the old steel and iron industrial area is being transformed into Europe's first environmental technological park (Environment Park) occupying an area of 100 hectars: the Turin Polytechnic is being doubled in size to cover 13 hectares, and has benefited from a major injection of funds into its research and training activities; finally, the cityìs railway system is being redeveloped and improved with important "passante" (railway link) works (three lines of 15 km placed underground), thus making a radical transformation in the system for the access into the city, and the mobility around it.
