Città di Torino

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Piazza Castello. The ancient heart of the City.

In the city center and in the heart of this ancient capital, palaces which are symbols of Savoy Monarchy, royal art and weapon collections and the charming vestiges of the Roman city.

Museums' visitor information:

• Palazzo Madama
• Museo Civico d'Arte Antica
• Palazzo Reale
• Armeria Reale
• Museo Diocesano
• Museo di Antichità

Piazza Castello is the heart of the city, its geographic center. It is the political and administrative heart of the ancient Savoy capital, where you can find the symbols of temporal and religious power.
The square has taken its current form since 1587, when Carlo Emanuele I decided to carry on the transformation of the medieval city which was undertaken by his father Emanuele Filiberto, who had moved the power centre from Chambery to Torino in 1563.

The main feature of the square is the uniformity of the façades and arcades surrounding it, resulting from four great architects’ work.  It was Ascanio Vitozzi who initiated a construction program of the so-called "distretto di comando” (Headquarters Area) including Palazzo Reale(Royal Palace) and the Segreterie di Stato (State Secretariats). The project was carried on by Amedeo di Castellamonte, later changed by the baroque genius Filippo Juvarra and finally ended by Benedetto Alfieri.

You could hardly distinguish the church of San Lorenzo among adjacent  buildings if it were not for the dome, Guarino Guarini’s masterpiece (since 1666) and one of the greatest examples of Baroque architecture in Turin. The long  branch on the north side of the square, yet housing the State Archives, was conceived as a whole with Palazzo Reale, connected by a system of galleries which allowed to get to the theatre from the Cappella della Sindone (the Chapel of the Holy Shroud) without going out of the palace. At the end of the long branch you find the Teatro Regio (Royal Theatre), which was rebuilt in the seventies of twentieth century by Carlo Mollino e Aldo Rossi after the devastating fire of 1966.

The square has been transformed in a pedestrian area with fountains and benches since 2000, therefore regaining a central role in the social life of the city.

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