Turin tourist information
The know-how to change in order to continue to grow. Torino is today a city undergoing full-scale transformation, as anyone crossing it will see: major building sites, from those that are reclaiming space until recently occupied by the railway to those for the underground rail system, from facilities for the 2006 Olympic Games to the planned new Civic Library. But the transformation goes beyond what is visible. A city that for over one hundred years was the automotive capital and the industrial capital in the Italian and European scenario is now asserting itself in the field of new technologies and is to all effects already a centre of international importance in the ICT sector. As mayor, I am proud of the fact that Torino has been chosen in recent years by major telecommunications groups to locate their management centres and new activities. The people and companies that arrive in our city or are founded here find a special welcome, made up of culture, traditions, museums and monuments, but also with a capacity to learn and change that is part of the city's DNA. It is no chance that here we have experiences of training that are unique in the world, and it is no chance that we have a European public school that hosts children of many different nationalities. We want to continue to learn, to learn to do things well, to learn to teach others, because we feel that we are capable of growing further and reaching new goals. The 2006 Games are one of these: this is a great challenge that will put us in the limelight, forcing us to overcome the traditional discretion that is part of our make-up. We are working on it.
Torino is part of the most densely populated and economically active regions of the continent: a backbone that runs from London to Torino through Benelux, Germany and Switzerland. A region which has been the main stage for the history of Europe. From Roman Britain to Flanders, from Franche Comté to Burgundy, from Switzerland to the western provinces of the Empire, the cities in this belt are the original urban heartland of Europe. But Torino is also strategically projected towards new markets and new trading partners - along the "Latin axis", that runs from Madrid and Barcelona to the Midi in France, through the Po Valley and on to the south and east. Torino's historical and economic links with Europe are confirmed by its efficient infrastructure network. Torino is served by an ultra-modern airport: Caselle, thanks to the extension inaugurated in December 1993, it has a capacity of over three million passengers a year. Intercontinental links are provided by Malpensa 2000, one of Europe's largest hubs with its 17 million passengers a year. Five railway stations, two of them international, guarantee easy access from all of Italy and bordering countries: four pairs of high-speed trains travel between Torino and Paris in little more than five hours. In themeantime, work has begun to transform the Torino-Milano line into a high-speed rail link, wich in just a few years will make it possible to travel between the two cities in less than one hour. Six dierent motorways connect Torino to major European cities: Milan in 60 minutes, Genoa in 90, Nice and Geneva in two and a half hours, Lyon in three hours and Zurich in four. New projects will further improve road links with Switzerland (completion of the Sempione motorway) and France (the new Mercantour and Colle di Tenda tunnels).
Torino is a city that looks towards the future, confident of its historic legacy of material and cultural resources. The need to periodically reinvent itself has been Torino's fate - and perhaps at the root of its constantly renewed modernity. First an ancient Roman city, Torino was reborn with Emanuele Filiberto, who in 1563 made it the capital of the Duchy of Savoy. When it was raised to the rank of duchy, it was a town of 20,000 inhabitants. Rapid development soon followed, leading to the founding of the university. In the second half of the 17th century, the architects Vitozzi and Castellamonte defined the urban lay-out, characterised by a very harmonious centre and broad, regular streets. Torino thus became Europe's first mainly Baroque capital. This cohesive fabric was the framework for Guarini and Juvarra's major works. Its urban appearance is still characterised by the continuity of houses along its streets and the uniform regularity of dierent period buildings. Even after the Baroque period, Torino continued its far-sighted expansion - today we might call it a "holistic vision". This is especially true for the expansions between 1700 and the early 1800s, which respected the image of the old city and repeated it in new districts. The capital of the Kingdom of Italy from 1861 to 1864, Torino's industrial development began in the second half of the 19th century. Industry was the key feature in the city's development throughout the 20th century. Today, Torino is a city with a thousand faces: a centre of finance and industry, international trade and a meeting point - but at the same time a city pleasant to live in and one with a unique and unmistakable atmosphere. Seen from the air, Torino shows all its rationality: straight roads crossing at right angles, long tree-lined avenues, great squares and luminous internal courtyards. But it also reveals the imposing presence of nature: four rivers, the hills, parks and gardens that make it one of the greenest cities in Europe.
The quality of city space is an increasingly important development factor. Amongst the great changes underway in Torino, the most radical work is the construction of the "crossrail" system, which will quadruple the amount of track and lay 15 kilometres of lines underground. This is a project of major importance, both for the resources involved and the consequences on the organisation of urban space. In addition to improving the efficiensy of public transport. (separating national and international traffic from regional and metropolitan lines), the crossrail will make valuable space available to the city. The avenue created above the railway line - the so-called "royal backbone" - will become the main north/south trunk route, and putting the lines underground will provide new road links between various areas of the city. Several hundred hectares previously used by the railways, steelworks and engineering industries, located along the railway in the late 19th century, will be recovered for social and business use, offering the opportunity for overall radical improvement of parts of the city that are now central and highly accessible. The project "The Gate, Living not Leaving" is very important for the rebirth of the district of PortaPalazzo/Borgo Dora. Action has been taken to improve roads (the underpass of Corso Regina Margherita), property (the refurbishment of façades) and to promote the area (such as the relaunch of the Balôn, the traditional flea market). Alongside the redesign of urban spaces and the regeneration of the historical and architectural heritage, environmental and social steps have been taken to improve daily life in the district through the participation in the project of everyone who lives and works there. To improve the urban environment, a unified appearance must be given back to both the centre and suburbs. This is being done in Torino through building rehabilitation and the clean -up of run-down areas - but also and more importantly by redesigning spaces, bringing out the specific features of each area and re-creating their urban identity. The "Special Suburbs Projects", an initiative launched by the City in 1997, pursues the model of a multi-centred Torino, where each district is capable of making the most of its human, economic and cultural resources; many small, dierent but complementary, towns, which together represent the wealth of the urban system.
Industry represents a rich legacy for Torino. A legacy made up of technical and commercial skills, entrepreneurial and financial resources, stimuli to innovation to be transferred to new business activities. But also a legacy made up of structures and buildings no longer used for production which are today seeking a new role in the city. Torino is the location of one of the most important Italian rehabilitation projects of former industrial areas. Renzo Piano has transformed the Lingotto factory, once the most famous European car plant, into a multi-functional complex that brings under one roof a trade fair centre, a conference centre, a university faculty, a hotel, shops, offices and management centres. Along the "central backbone", the area of an old steel plant has been replaced by Europe's first environment technology park. The Environment Park has been designed for sustainable development: laboratories, offices and service centres will be built with ecological materials, indoor pollution will be eliminated and renewable energy sources will be used. The great railway repair yards will instead be restructured to make room for the doubling of the Torino Polytechnic - one of Italy's most prestigious technical and scientific institutions. Here, specific investment has been allocated to research and training in the field of information technology. All of this is happening within the framework of clear rules and opportunities, integrating modernisation projects with the history and architecture of the past. In order to control this ongoing change, Torino adopted a new master development plan in the 1990s.
Even in everyday life, Torino has a thousand faces: a serious industrial city but one with an unexpected charm and joie de vivre. Historic cafés are places of tradition and culture, worth visiting in order to relax in their period furnishings and feel the atmosphere of the real Torino. Here you can drink the classic "bicerin", a combination of chocolate, milk and coffee made fashionable in the 18th century. And what if you are in Torino at cocktail hour? You must not miss one of the moments when the torinesi meet, maybe in one of the many outdoor bars where you can enjoy the city's natural beauty and architecture. Torino offers high quality restaurants, with an eye on tradition and extraordinary local products: cheese, wild mushrooms, truffles, chocolate, and prestigious wines like Barolo and Barbaresco. After dinner, the bars along the Po bustle with light and noise. Every night, music, art exhibitions and street theatre are an astounding part of city life. Torino is attracting an increasingly international public, thanks to events that involve the whole city: Big 2000, a biennial review of emerging art, gives over public spaces to young artists from all around Europe; Luci di Artista, held every year during the Christmas festivities, sees the streets and squares of the city decorated by light installations designed by famous artists. Since 1988, tourism promotion, reception, information and assistance have been co-ordinated by a public agency. Turismo Torino organises information and reception points, handles international tourist communication and creates ad hoc programmes for the promotion of permanent attractions and special events.
Five shopping centres, 16,000 shops, 60 open-air markets, over 12 kilometres of arcades. These are the figures of one of the Italian capitals for quality shopping. Haute couture boutiques and jewellery under the arcades of Via Roma and the Subalpina and San Federico galleries; antiques shops and restoration workshops in Via Maria Vittoria, Via della Rocca and Via Principe Amedeo; bookshops, perfume and clothes shops in Via Garibaldi - the city's longest pedestrian street. The whole historic centre of Torino has a wealth of small shops - haberdasheries, wine bars, delicatessens, herb shops, bakeries, leather and silver workshops, bookbinders and tailors. Torino's arcades are the longest in Europe where you can walk for hours passing from one arch to another. But you can also do your shopping in the open air, in one of the markets that fill the city's streets and squares with colour and noise. Already in the Middle Ages, the area of Piazza Palazzo di Città was the centre of flourishing commerce. Today, on the first Sunday of every month, the Herb Market (from the old name of the square) is held here, where you can find the best local food and drink products. Europe's biggest open air market, Porta Palazzo, is found in Piazza della Repubblica, the largest in the city. Just behind this, started in the mid 19th century, is the Balôn - the area of the city's second-hand dealers. On Saturday, it is filled with stalls, always attracting crowds of buyers or just the curious. The second Sunday of every month is the day of the Gran Balôn: a market of curios, collector's pieces, lace, toys and period publications - where there is no shortage of objects of great value and antique furniture.
Torino has always been a city of cinema. From the early pioneering works of Pastrone, to the films of Antonioni and Lattuada in the post-war period, from the cult horror movies of Dario Argento to recent films by Amelio, Calopresti, Ferrario and Wertmüller. If Torino is going through renewed popularity as a city of cinema, then it is above all thanks to the work of the National Cinema Museum, located inside its most famous and characteristic monument, the Mole Antonelliana. The restoration of the monument has made available an area of 3,200 square metres on five levels, organised by theme. Here, the visitor is the leading actor: the exhibition areas are integrated with experimentation and simulation sections, while interactive systems provide detailed information on the items displayed. In the "cinema machine" area it is possible to experience first hand the various stages of making a film, while in the main hall and dome of the building the most significant scenes from the history of cinema can be viewed on giant screens. The National Cinema Museum collections - considered amongst the world's most important - include 140,000 photographs, 150,000 posters and 9,000 paintings, prints, and antique viewing and filming equipment, a print archive of inestimable historical value, a film library (5000 titles), a library and a sound archive. Torino also hosts the Torino Film Festival (which started in 1982 as the Festival Cinema Giovani). This is today one of the most interesting international film events dedicated not only to new cinema and new directors - but also to extensive retrospectives and reviews of single directors to rediscover classics. The focus on short films is particularly important as a training ground for the film-makers of tomorrow. Torino has a special agency to support film production. The Piedmont Film Commission helps production companies in finding locations and obtaining filming permits, promoting Torino and Piedmont internationally as a film location. The promotional mission of the Film Commission is supported by commitment to technological innovation. A Multimedia Technology Park is now being developed - a production and post-production centre equipped with the most advanced digital technologies, located on the site of one of Italy's historical film studios, FERT. FERT is also the name of an association founded to encourage independent film production. Among its many projects, the association has set up Antenna Media, an information and consultancy service for cinema, TV and new media professionals.
An opera theatre, three auditoriums, twelve theatres, high quality concerts and live music every evening of the year. Torino loves music. Concerts of all kinds attract an educated audience, open to innovation. The city has a large number of associations that help to make the quality of musical life in Torino unique. In 1991, the RAI National Symphonic Orchestra (based in Torino), the Teatro Regio Foundation, the Unione Musicale, the Lingotto Musica Association, the City of Torino and the Conservatorio Verdi set up an association known as "Sistema Musica" which co-ordinates the work of all these bodies in order to promote and develop the understanding and appreciation of music. The association publishes a monthly magazine, an open invitation for the Italian and international world of music. The Teatro Regio, one of Italy's most prestigious opera houses, offers a programme of the highest international standing. The Unione Musicale, founded in 1946 to promote music amongst young people, organises a busy programme of chamber music concerts every year. The Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi is one of Italy's most famous music schools, attended by over 700 students. It contains an auditorium with splendid acoustics. The Lingotto Auditorium (one of the largest and most modern in Italy) hosts the world's greatest orchestras with the most renowned directors and soloists. The high point of the musical season in Torino is Settembre Musica: a full immersion in music for the whole of September, organised by the City of Torino. From symphonic concerts to chamber music, contemporary and ethnic music, oratorio and jazz, the rich and varied programme attracts 40,000 people each year. The "Andrea della Corte" Civic Music Library conserves 60,000 books and scores, 15,000 recordings and 180 Italian and foreign periodicals, offering scholars and enthusiasts extensive and up-to-date information on classical music from all parts of the world. Summer is the best time to hear music in the city. There are always numerous initiatives, including Giorni d'Estate, the summer concert series, and Extrafestival. But you only have to go out any evening to hear music in Torino: one of the many local groups will certainly be playing just around the corner.
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