• Menu
  • Skip to right header navigation
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Sos Italian – Learn Italian online

Online Italian lessons, Italian culture, Italian translation

  • About
    • Awards
  • Choose me
    • Online Italian Lessons
    • English > Italian Translations
    • Proofreading of Italian Texts
  • Resources
    • Teaching aids
    • Teaching and Learning
    • Translation
  • About
    • Awards
  • Choose me
    • Online Italian Lessons
    • English > Italian Translations
    • Proofreading of Italian Texts
  • Resources
    • Teaching aids
    • Teaching and Learning
    • Translation
  • Home
  • My Blog
  • Learn Italian
    • Test your Italian
    • Exercises
  • Italian books
    • Grammar books
  • Online Italian courses
  • Contacts
  • Subscribe
  • Home
  • My Blog
  • Learn Italian
    • Test your Italian
    • Exercises
  • Italian books
    • Grammar books
  • Online Italian courses
  • Contacts
  • Subscribe

What to see in Turin and nearby

Last Modified: April 20, 2022

Turin is an important city in northern Italy with many things to see. It’s the capoluogo (administrative center) of Piedmont and it’s surrounded by the Alpine arch and the Superga hill.

In the past, it was the capital of the Duchy of Savoy and it was the main intellectual and political center during the Risorgimento. Also, it was the very first capital of the Kingdom of Italy from 1861 to 1865.

Nowadays Turin is part of the industrial triangle together with Milan and Genoa. And this year it will host the Eurovision Song Contest.

So, if you decide to go to Turin, I’m giving you a small list of some of the things you should see – if you want to read more about what to do when in Turin, have a look at Places to visit when in Turin.

I toret

Let’s start with one of the symbols of Turin: i toret. Toret in dialect means toretto, little bull. When we talk about i toret in Turin, we’re talking about the typical public fountains that you can find in the city. The name comes from the fact that the top of these fountains is shaped like a bull head.

Apparently, the idea to install bull head fountains goes back to 1861. If you find this idea peculiar, then you should know that il toro – the bull – is the symbol of the city of Turin. If you want to know why a bull became the symbol of Turin, have a look at The legend about the origins of Turin.

Today there are more or less 800 toret in Turin. So, when in Turin, take yourself a selfie with one of these peculiar public fountains.

Basilica of Superga

The basilica of Superga is not in Turin but it’s very close, it’s just a 20 minutes’ drive from the city.

The church was built in 1717 for Victor Amadeus II of Savoy on the top of the hill of Superga and contains the tombs of many royals of the House of Savoy.

There’s a legend linked to the origins of this church. It’s said that Duke Victor Amadeus II of Savoy and the Prince Eugene of Savoy climbed the hill during the war of the Spanish succession to get to a small church. Once there, they saw Turin besieged by Franco-Spanish forces.

In front of such a terrible view, Victor Amadeus knelt in front of a wooden sculpture of the Virgin Mary and swore that in case of victory, he would have a bigger church built to her in that very place. And so did he when they won, entrusting the design of the Basilica to the architect Juvarra.

The interior has six chapels, four altars and a main altar decorated with sculptures made of Carrara marble. There are also many paintings and the wooden sculpture of the Virgin Mary, in front of which Victor Amadeus II knelt many years ago.

The Sassi-Superga tramway

The Sassi-Superga tramway is a steep grade railway line that connects Sassi, a suburb of Turin, to the Basilica of Superga. The trip starts at an altitude of 224m and ends at 672m. Generally, it takes you 18 minutes to get from Sassi to Superga with the tramway. Once on the top you can visit the Basilica and you can also enjoy a beautiful view of Turin and the Alps!

As always, if you liked this article, don’t forget to share it or to like my Facebook page!


Credits

Original image by ChiemSeherin

Related Posts:

  • Places to visit when in Turin
    Places to visit when in Turin
  • Typical Italian chocolates
    Typical Italian chocolates
  • Five places where you can get rid of bad luck in Italy
    Five places where you can get rid of bad luck in Italy

Category: Culture, TravelTag: Italian culture, Italy, tourism, visit Italy

Previous Post: «Mentre and Durante: What’s the difference? Mentre and Durante: What’s the difference?
Next Post: Basta! What does it mean in Italian? Basta! What does it mean in Italian?»

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

19 − 8 =

Primary Sidebar

Italian grammar: beginner to advanced

Newsletter

Join my newsletter and get a piece of Italy delivered right into your inbox!

Learn Italian with my online courses

Sos Italian - Online Italian classes

Categories

  • Culture
  • English-Italian texts
  • Grammar
  • Italian food and drinks
  • Italian Language Certifications
  • Learn Italian
  • Learning
  • Teaching
  • Translation
  • Travel
  • Uncategorized

Advertising

Archives

  • Popular

Footer

Terms and Conditions

© Copyright En

Privacy Policy

Termini e Condizioni

© Copyright It

P. Iva: 02736390028

Copyright © 2023

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

You can find out more about which cookies we are using or switch them off in settings.

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookies should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.

3rd Party Cookies

This website uses Google Analytics to collect anonymous information such as the number of visitors to the site, and the most popular pages.

This website uses Pixel Facebook to better measure, optimize, and retarget our marketing campaigns.

This website uses AdSense to enable an analysis of the use of the website and to allow third party vendors, including Google, to use cookies to serve ads based on a user’s prior visits to this website or other websites.

Keeping these cookies enabled helps us improve our website.

Please enable Strictly Necessary Cookies first so that we can save your preferences!

Cookie Policy

More information about our Privacy and Cookie Policy

Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance