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Regions in Italy Region Piemonte >  Province Torino > Comune Turin - Torino

Torino, Turin Province of Torino, Piemonte (Piedmont-Piemont) Region, Italy The Locality: Turin (Italian Torino) is a major industrial city in north-western Italy, on the west bank of the Po River, known particularly as home to the headquarters of the car company Fiat. Turin is also the birthplace of major aspects of Italian economy, like telecommunications Telecom Italia, television (Rai, National TV channel) and cinema, and has two important soccer teams (Juventus and Torino), and hosted the 2006 Winter Olympics and in 2007 the Winter Universiade.

INFO: Altitude: 239 m a.s.l -- Population: about 860,000 inhabitants -- Zip/postal code: 10100 -- Phone Area Code: 011 The weather in Torino: HISTORY: The name of Turin comes from Tau, a celtic word that means mountains. The Italian name, Torino, happens to mean "little bull" in Italian, hence the coat of arms and the symbol of the city. The area was settled by the Taurini in pre-Roman times. In the first century A.D., the Romans created a military camp (Castra Taurinorum), later dedicated to Augustus (Augusta Taurinorum). The typical Roman street plan with streets at right angles can still be seen in the modern city. The capital of the Duchy of Savoy since 16th century, the Kingdom of Sardinia and then in 1861 Turin became the capital of the newly proclaimed United Italy. In 1865 the capital was moved to Florence and in 1871 to Rome. In the 2001 census, Turin was the fourth largest city in Italy, with a large proportion of people with southern-Italian background as a consequence of the mass immigration of the second half of the twentieth century, and a significant presence of immigrants from Africa and Asia. WHAT TO SEE: the Mole Antonelliana, which hosts the National Cinema Museum of Italy. The Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist houses the Shroud of Turin, an old linen cloth with an imprint of a man, which is believed by many to be the cloth that covered Jesus in his grave. The Shroud has been preserved here since 1578, and has always fascinated believers and non-believers from all over the world. It is exhibited to the public only on special occasion, but it is possible to visit the museum and see a copy of the Holy Shroud inside the Cathedral. The Museo Egizio has the most important collection in the world of Egyptian antiquities in the world after the Cairo Museum. the Savoy Residences: the Royal Palace, the official residence of the Savoys until 1865, and palaces, residences and castles in the city centre and in the surrounding towns, among them the Hunting Lodge by Juvarra can be admired in Stupinigi and there is also the royal estate in Pollenzo. the castle of Rivoli, recognised as a world heritage site by the Unesco. In the hills above the city is the basilica of Superga, from where there is a splendid panorama of Turin against a backdrop of the snow-capped Alps. The Lingotto building, which was at one time the largest car factory in the world, and is now a convention centre, concert hall, art gallery, shopping centre and hotel. the National Museum of Cinema. [the text above is derived from Wikipedia and is subject to the GNU licence] EVENTS Torino was the host of the 2006 Winter Olympics Games, and here were held the inauguration and closing ceremony, as well as events of many specialties, such as: Figure Skating Ice Hockey

more info on the Museo delle Antichità Egizie (Aegyptian Museum) in Turin

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