Turin

(to͝or`ĭn, tyo͝or`–, tyo͝orĭn`), Ital. Torino, city (1991 pop. 962,507), capital of Piedmont and of Turin prov., NW Italy, at the confluence of the Po and Dora Riparia rivers. It is a major transportation hub and Italy's most important industrial center. Manufactures include motor vehicles, tires, textiles, clothing, machinery, electronic equipment, leather goods, furniture, chemicals, and vermouth. It is an international fashion center.

Turin was founded by the pre-Roman Taurini. The most important Roman town of the W Po valley, Turin was later a Lombard duchy and then a Frankish county. In spite of the claims of the house of Savoy, it remained a free commune in the 12th and 13th cent. It passed c.1280 to the house of Savoy (see Savoy, house ofSavoy, house of,
dynasty of Western Europe that ruled Savoy and Piedmont from the 11th cent., the kingdom of Sicily from 1714 to 1718, the kingdom of Sardinia from 1720 to 1861, and the kingdom of Italy from 1861 to 1946.
..... Click the link for more information. ). Occupied (1536–62) by the French, it was restored to the dukes of Savoy and became their capital. From 1720 to 1861 it was the capital of the kingdom of SardiniaSardinia, kingdom of,
name given to the possessions of the house of Savoy (see Savoy, house of) in 1720, when the island of Sardinia was awarded (by the Treaty of London) to Duke Victor Amadeus II of Savoy to compensate him for the loss of Sicily to Austria.
..... Click the link for more information. . During the War of the Spanish Succession it suffered a long siege, which ended with the victory of Eugene of Savoy over the French. In 1798, Charles Emmanuel IV of Savoy was obliged by the French to abdicate and to abandon Turin, but Victor Emmanuel I returned in 1814, and the city became the center of Italian national aspirations. From 1861 to 1865 it was the capital of the new Italian kingdom.

Because of its industrial importance, Turin suffered heavy damage in World War II; most of the important buildings that remain date from the 17th–19th cent. Of note are the Palace of the Marquesses of Caraglio e Senantes (17th cent.); the Palazzo Madama (begun late 13th cent.); the baroque Venaria Reale, a restored (2008) 17th-century royal summer palace, which houses a fine collection of arms and armor; the Academy of Science, which contains the rich Egyptian Museum; and the Car Museum.

The Cathedral of San Giovanni (late 15th cent.) has a casket that contains the famous "Shroud of Turin," in which some believe Jesus was wrapped after death. Carbon-14 dating (1988) suggested that it is a medieval forgery, but the testing may have been done on a sample from a repaired area. Analysis of pollen grains and plant images on the shroud (1999) indicated a date prior to the 8th cent., and other tests have suggested the shroud is pre-Medieval. Research published in 2009, comparing a shroud known to date from Jerusalem in the early 1st cent. A.D., noted that the Turin shroud had a more complex weave and consisted of a single piece of cloth instead of separate pieces for the head and body.

On a hill overlooking the city is the basilica of Superga (1717–31), containing the tombs of many of the dukes of Savoy and kings of Sardinia. Turin has a university and a well-known polytechnic institute (1859).

Turin

(Torino), a city in northwestern Italy; principal city of the region of Piedmont and capital of Turin Province.

Turin is the fourth largest city in Italy, after Rome, Milan, and Naples, with a population of 1.2 million (1974). The city is located at the influx of the Dora Riparia into the Po River in the Po-Venetian Plain and lies in the foothills of the Western Alps on the approaches to the Alpine passes. Turin’s geographic location has enabled it to become an important transportation junction and the second largest industrial center in Italy (after Milan), as well as a trade and financial center.

Heavy industry predominates in the city and adjacent suburbs, such as Mirafiori. The enterprises of the Fiat concern lead Turin’s heavy industry: about one-half of the city’s indusrial workers are employed by Fiat. The nucleus of the entire complex consists of the automotive plants, which account for 80 percent of Italy’s total production of motor vehicles. Fiat also owns metallurgical, aviation, railroad-car, and tractor plants and produces marine engines. The second largest industrial complex in Turin is the Riv firm, which produces ball bearings and ball-bearing manufacturing equipment. Turin also has many machine-building plants belonging to other firms, enterprises producing rubber and cable, a chemical industry that produces sulfuric acid, dyes, and chemical fibers, and a pharmaceutical industry. Older sectors of Turin’s industry still remain important, including textiles, garment making, printing, and food processing, which includes the wine-growing and confectionery industries. Turin is the site of a university founded in the 15th century.

In antiquity, Turin was a settlement of the Taurini. Under the emperor Augustus, it was the Roman colony of Augusta Tauri-norum. In the sixth and seventh centuries it was the center of a duchy of Langobardia. At the end of the eighth century Turin became part of the Carolingian state; it was the principal city of a county and then of a marquessate. A commune was established in the 12th century. Along with other Lombard states struggling for independence, Turin joined the Lombard League in 1226. In the 13th century the city became part of Savoy. Turin was occupied by French troops from 1536 to 1562, and in 1563 it became the capital of the duchy of Savoy.

From 1720 to 1860 Turin was, with interruptions, the capital of the Kingdom of Sardinia; from 1861 to 1865 it was the capital of the Kingdom of Italy. Turin was one of the centers of the bourgeois-democratic and national liberation movements during the bourgeois revolutions of 1821 and 1848–49. The rapid economic growth of Turin began in the 19th century. The city became an important center of the workers’ movement and was the site of an antiwar strike in 1915, the Uprising of Turin in 1917, and other protests. In 1919 the Marxist group Ordine Nuovo was formed in Turin; it played a major role in founding the Italian Communist Party in 1921. During the Nazi occupation from 1943 to 1945, Turin was a center of the resistance movement. The city was liberated by Italian partisans in April 1945.

N. K. KISOVSKAIA

Turin’s rectilinear street plan is based on the layout of an ancient Roman military camp. The city’s architectural monuments include an ancient Roman theater and the Palatine Gate. Turin’s Renaissance cathedral, which was designed by Meo del Caprino, G. Guarini, and F. Juvarra, was begun in 1490 and completed in the 18th century. The baroque structures of G. Guarini, full of dynamic tension, include the churches of San Lorenzo (1668–87) and San Filippo Neri (begun 1675) and the Palazzo Carignano (begun 1679). Many piazzas and wide boulevards were built from the 17th to the 20th century, giving the center of Turin a particularly imposing appearance. These include Piazza San Carlo (1638), designed by C. da Castellamonte, and the rebuilt main street, Via Roma (1931–37), designed by M. Piacentini and others.

Noteworthy contemporary buildings include the Fiat plant (1926; engineer, M. Trueco) and structures designed by P. L. Nervi, including the new halls of the Palazzo delle Esposizioni and the “Italia ‘61” exhibition complex, which features the Palace of Labor (1961; co-designer, A. Nervi). In the 1950’s, new housing developments were built—La Falchora (G. Astengo, S. Molli-Boffa, and others) and Le Valette (N. Renacco and others). Two baroque structures designed by F. Juvarra are located near Turin—the church of Superga (1715–31) and the hunting palace of Stupinigi (1729–34). Turin’s museums include the Museum of Antiquities, the Albertine Academy of Fine Arts, the Egyptian Museum, and the Gallería Sabauda.

REFERENCES

Bernardi, M. Torino e isuoi dintorni, 2nd ed. [Rome, 1957.] Passanti, M. Lo sviluppo urbanístico di Torino dalla fondazioneall’unità d’ïtalia. Turin, 1969.

Turin

a city in NW Italy, capital of Piedmont region, on the River Po: became capital of the Kingdom of Sardinia in 1720; first capital (1861--65) of united Italy; university (1405); a major industrial centre, producing most of Italy's cars. Pop.: 865 263 (2001)

Turin

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Synonyms for Turin

noun capital city of the Piemonte region of northwestern Italy

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