Piedmont

Main Attractions of Piedmont

Turin

Turin is a city thriving, busy and cosmopolitan city, rich in culture and history, and is known for its numerous art galleries, restaurants, churches, palaces, theaters, plazas, parks, gardens, libraries, museums and more.

Turin is well known for its style between the baroque and rococo. Much of the squares, castles, gardens and the most elegant palaces, are by the Sicilian architect Filippo Juvarra, who modeled the buildings in the style of those of Versailles.

Great examples of French-style buildings are the Palazzo Reale, the Royal Hunting House Stupinigi and the Basilica di Superga.

Turin is often called the "cradle of Italian freedom," for being the center of the Renaissance and birthplace of prominent personalities of that glorious period, as Cavour.

The numerous monuments and museums of Turin, including the Egyptian Museum and the Mole Antonelliana, make it one of 250 most visited cities in the world, and the tenth most visited city in Italy in 2008.

Among the monuments and palaces must-visit in Turin are:

• The Mole Antonelliana, originally designed by architect Alessandro Antonelli as a synagogue, today houses the Museo Nazionale del Cinema.
• The Royal Palace, designed and built in the late '500 and early '600 by Ascanio Vittozzi was later restored and enlarged by architects such as Carlo di Castellamonte and Filippo Juvarra.
• The Renaissance Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, built during the fifteenth century. Inside, in addition to the plethora of statues and frescoes of great value, is kept the Holy Shroud, which many believe to be the cloth that wrapped the Christ after the descent from the cross.
• The Egyptian Museum, in the Palace of the Academy of Sciences, home to the Academy, which also houses the Savoy Gallery. With its 30 thousand exhibits, is one of the most important Egyptian museums in the world, second only to the one in Cairo.

The city of Turin and its surroundings are also embellished by numerous Savoy residences, UNESCO World Heritage Site, such as hunting house Stupinigi, the Castello del Valentino, Of Agliè, Racconigi, Moncalieri and Rivoli, Villa della Regina and the Venaria.

More sights in Piedmont

If Turin is certainly a city to visit the Piedmont is able to offer much more to be green and to visit: during winter the region, with over 1,300 km of trails, is a destination for many lovers of skiing, while in summer is the ideal place for a relaxing holiday among its mountains and its valleys.

Absolutely not to be missed is a ride through the hills of the Langhe and Monferrato, rich in history and culture.