Monday, October 14, 2025
Torino, Italia
Good morning, we are going on a tour with Serra & Pietro’s friend Sara Nascetti. Sara is an official guide or registered guide here in Torino. She is going to show us the Quadrilatero Romano, the old Roman neighborhood. We meet her in the Palazzo Madama. Palazzo Madama takes its traditional name from the embellishments it received under two queens (madama) of the House of Savoy. Madama, according to Sara, was the title used for a daughter or a French King or at least the member of the Royal House. Basically, it translates to the English equivalent of “my lady”.
In 1997, Palazzo Madama was placed on the UNESCO World Heritage Site list along with 13 other residences of the House of Savoy. At the beginning of the first century BC, the site of the palace was occupied by a Roman gate in. It is from here the decumanus maximus of Augusta Taurinorum (the ancient name of Torino) began. In Roman urban planning, a decumanus was an east–west-oriented road in a Roman city or castrum (military camp). The main decumanus, which this was, of a particular city was the decumanus maximus, or most often simply "the decumanus". The decumanus maximus has been remained Via Garibaldi.
In the rectangular street grid of the typical Roman city plan, the decumanus was crossed by the perpendicular cardo, the main north–south street. The cardo is now known as via Porta Palatina, on the other side of Via Garibaldi the street name is Via San Tomasso. The intersection is nothing special today and only has historical significance. It is however the approximate center it the Qualfilatero Romano. Historically, where they cross was an important intersection as it was basically the center of the Roman town.
Later the building became a possession of the Savoia-Acaja, a secondary branch of the House of Savoy; in the early 14th century, they enlarged it into a castle. A century later Ludovico of Acaja rebuilt it in square shape, with an inner court and a portico, and four cylindrical towers at each corner. Today two of the towers of the original castle have been restored and testify to the original nucleus of the building. The shape of the 14th century castle is still clearly recognizable today. from the back section of the palace. After the extinction of the Acajas, the edifice became a residence for guests of the House of Savoy.
1637 the regent for Duke Charles Emmanuel II, Christine of France (aunt of Louis XIV), chose it as her personal residence. She commissioned the covering of the court and a revamping of the inner apartments. Sixty years later another regent, Marie Jeanne of Savoy, who was known as Madama Reale, lived in the palace. She conferred upon it definitively the nickname of Madama (Italian for Madame). She invited many artists to renovate the building which the duchess wanted to turn into a sumptuous royal palace. The artist Domenico Guidobono became the undisputed protagonist of the decorations of the halls on the first floor of Palazzo Madama, known as the Guidobono halls – the Madama Reale’s Chamber, the Chinese Cabinet, and the Southern Veranda. The duchess also asked architect Filippo Juvarra to design a new Baroque palace in white stone, which he did in 1716, but the works halted in 1721 after only the front section had been completed.
That is where the building stands today. From one side, along Via Po, the building looks like a 14th century medieval red brick castle. From the Piazza Castello, the other side, the section built by Juvarra constitutes today a scenographic façade a single bay deep, screening the rear part of the edifice. On the exterior, Juvarra expressed what was intended as a magnificent architectural preamble to an edifice that was never built, as a high-ceilinged piano nobile with arch-headed windows, which is linked to a mezzanine above it by a colossal row of pilasters of the composite order.
Each pilaster stands on a sturdy and formal fielded channel-rusticated base against the ashlar masonry of the ground floor. The central three bays are emphasized by the bolder relief offered by full columns attached to the façade, which is returned inward behind them to afford a vast glass-fronted central interior space like a glazed loggia. Their prominence is emphasized by the tall socles on which they stand, carved with trophies of arms in relief. In the flanking triple bays, each central bay is broken slightly forwards, given its window a deeper, more shadowed reveal within the depth of the wall; its two outer giant pilasters overlap the main order as if that continued behind them.
On either side the bays' windows are set together within a slightly recessed panel, thus there are three layered planes to the façade. The dentiled cornice supported on bold consoles in the frieze breaks forward over the central columns and subtly over the central bays of the flanking sections as well. A conforming balustrade decorated with vases and statues in white marble surmounts the façade and it looks like an 18th century palace.
Today, although the Palazzo Madama houses the Torino City Museum of Ancient Art, we are choosing not to visit it. We’ll do that next week. Today is more about getting an index of the old part of the city. Despite its name, the Museum of Anciet Art, it is home to a large collection of paintings, statues, church ornaments, porcelain, and decorative art, mostly from the late Middle Ages to the 18th century.
Today we are going to visit the Royal Church of San Lorenzo. San Lorenzo is a Baroque-style church, adjacent to the Royal Palace of Turin, again next weeks tour. The present church was designed and built by Guarino Guarini during 1668–1687.
Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy, was one of the leaders of the Habsburg armies of his cousin Philip II of Spain; they decisively defeated the French armies in the Battle of Saint-Quentin in Northern France on 10 August 1557, the Feast of St. Lawrence (San Lorenzo), which affected the outcome of the Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis; in which, the Savoy, including Torino, was returned to the rule of the duke. That the Battle occurred on the Saint's feast instigated Phillip's denomination and design of the palace of El Escorial in Madrid. Emmanuel Philibert, on his return to Torino in 1562, renovated the old ducal chapel of Santa Maria ad Presepae, which is now the alcove of the church designed by Guarini in 1668.
Santa Maria ad Presepae was became the home of the Holy Shroud in 1578 when the Savoys moved the shroud to their new capital in Torino. It has remained in Torino ever since. The Holy Shround has been kept in the Chapel of the Holy Shroud since 1683. The chapel was designed specifically for holding the Holy Shroud by architect Guarino Guarini. The chapel is connected to both the royal palace and the Torino Cathedral. Apparently, there was some dispute with the Bishop of Torino. Ownership of the shroud passed from the House of Savoy to the Catholic Church after the death of former King Umberto II in 1983.
Sara pointed out that on the winter solstice the sun comes through a certain window and lights us a spot in the church. She seemed to think was was particularly unique. However, we know from our visits to many churches that sundials inside many churches are often called “camera obscura” (or “hole”). These sundials light up an image or in the case of the Duomo in Milano, a line on the floor, which indicates the date. Grace’s birthday, March 20th, is even highlighted on the floor of the Duomo because it is the spring equinox! While here only the winter solstice is marked, looking at the ceiling it is possible that the original plan actually marked at least the winter and summer solstices, if not the entire calendar. However, modification of the surrounding buildings over the centuries had hidden all except the winter solstice.
We left the Royal Church of San Lorenzo and walked to the Chapel of the Holy Shroud. It is only through faith that one can believe this is the shroud in which Jesus was buried. Scientific tests are repeated stated that the shroud is maybe from as early as the 14th century, and that the image has been painted on the cloth. However, one can never know for sure. The Chapel is quite beautiful. Again, we will visit the “attached” royal chapel next week.
From here we walked to the Parco Archeologico Torri Palatine. The Palatine Gate is a Roman Age city gate. The gate provided access through the Roman city walls of Torino from the North side and, as a result, it constituted the Porta Principalis Dextra (Right-Side Main Gate) of the old town through which the Cardo Maximus ran. The Palatine Gate represents the primary archaeological evidence of the city's Roman phase. It is one of the world's best-preserved 1st-century BC Roman gateways. Together with the ancient theatre's remains, it is located a short distance from the Chapel of the Holy Shroud. It is part of the so-called Archaeological Park, which opened in 2006. A lot of which appears to be “reconstructed”.
I say this because, owing Torino’s importance as an industrial center during WW II, it was the home to Fiat and several other industries engaged in war production (including RIV, Lancia and Snia Viscosa), suffered over a hundred raids by the Allied air forces. In fact, Torino was thus among the most bombed cities in Northern Italy, suffering damage to about 40% of its housing stock, and over 2,000 victims among its population. The truth is most of the buildings in Torino were rebuilt or reconstructed after WW II.
After seeing the Palatine Gate we began to walk around the Quadrilatero Romano. So far this is the most beautiful part of the city. Old narrow roads, many of which have been turned into pedestrian walkways, old buildings, or at least ones that look old, and quite neighborhoods with sidewalk caffès. We stopped at several different buildings where Sara told us about the history of buildings.
One of these was a historic residence called Casa del Pingone. It has been turned into a really nice hotel. We should stay here some time. TripAdvisor has this to say about Casa del Pingone. “A magical place in the heart of Turin, Casa del Pingone is a contemporary space perfect for the tourists who would like to visit the city, for the digital nomads, or for those citizens who want to experience an out-of-the-ordinary and cozy atmosphere. The tranquility that is enjoyed in this central but secluded corner of town is an invitation to harmonize with time and nature.” About €200 a night.
In an area historical known as Stampatori. Stampatori means printer or printers. This is the area where, obviously, the printing trade was plied. Here we got to look inside the courtyard of a 16th century building with a frescoed façade. B&B Viastampatori is located here. TripAdvisor says, “B&B Viastampatori. In a splendid 16th century building with frescoed facade and courtyard. Tastefully furnished, recently renovated and perfectly maintained.” About €120 a night. Again, probably a future stay.
Speaking of future stays we also passed the NH Collection hotel, Santo Stefano, during our walk. Looking more modern than the other two, but still containing some old walls. It runs about €120 a night as well. Again, probably a good place to stay if you are visiting Torino.
We continued our walk and headed back towards Piazza Castello. We had been walking for over two hours and I think our heads were about filled. Damilia had to get back to do some baby duty when Gloria finished at 18:30 anyway, so we cut the tour a little short. Mary and I found a pasticceri and sat and had a beer. We talked about dinner and decided to walk to Sesto Gusto, a place Sara had told us about that had really good pizza, it was pretty much a straight walk down Via Giuseppe Barbaroux.
When we got there, they were closed. Now the sign said, “Aperto tutti i giorni”, “open every day” from 19:00. It was a quarter past now. It was dark inside and didn’t look like they were just opening late. So, we started back towards Piazza Castello. On the way we passed, or started to pass, LAO 老, a Chinese restaurant that Sara had also said was very good. We decided to give it a chance.
Now if you think ordering in a Chinese restaurant is hard, try doing it where the menu is in Chinese and Italian. Ma Po Tofu, is fairly universali like it, so I ordered it and some riso. Mary ordered a chicken dish just about mine on the menu. The ma Po tofu has three chili peppers next to it, Mary’s dish had one. Her’s turned out much spicer than mine. It was indeed really good and a lot of food. We really need to learn to order less.
We then walked the mile or so back to the apartment. It has been a good day, and the tour was very informative and interesting.
Buonanotte e ciao, Enrico e Maria
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