In the city of Turin, the capital city of Piedmont in northern Italy

 "You may have the universe, if I may have Italy."

-- Giuseppe Verdi
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(in the capital of the Piedmont region in northwestern Italy) Located at the foot of the Alps, Turin was Italy’s first capital city between 1861 and 1865. It is renowned for its grand Baroque architecture, and the world-famous Shroud of Turin. An important business and cultural hub in Italy. Turin is the home of famous museums and the Italian Alps.

+ Turin is located on the Po River near its junction with the Sangone, Dora Riparia, and Stura di Lanzo rivers. The original settlement of Taurisia, founded by the Taurini (a Celto-Ligurian tribe dwelling in the upper valley of the Po river during the Iron Age and the Roman period), was partly destroyed by the Carthaginian invader Hannibal in 218 BCE. It later became a Roman military colony, known successively as Julia Taurinorum and Augusta Taurinorum, rebuilt by the emperor Augustus.

+ After the decline of Rome in the 4th century, the city became part of the Lombard kingdom and then of the Frankish empire. It was linked to Savoy in 1046 by the marriage of Countess Adelaide to Count Odo of Savoy Occupied by the French from 1536 to 1562, Turin became the capital of the duchy of Savoy in 1563. It was besieged in 1640 and 1706 (during the War of the Spanish Succession) by the French, who were defeated by Eugene of Savoy in 1706, and it was occupied again by the French during the Napoleonic Wars. The ciity became the capital of the kingdom of Sardinia in 1720 and in the 19th century became the political and intellectual center of the Risorgimento, the movement for Italian political unification. Turin sustained heavy air-raid damage during World War II.

+ Having been a bishopric since about 415 and an archbishopric since 1510, Turin is rich in ecclesiastical architecture. Churches include La Consolata, the Waldensian Church, and the nearby basilica of Superga. The Renaissance-style cathedral of San Giovanni Battista houses the Shroud of Turin, a piece of linen long thought to be the burial garment of Jesus. The city also hosts some of Italy's best universities, colleges, academies, lycea, and gymnasia, such as the University of Turin, founded in the 15th century, and the Turin Polytechnic.

+ A ducal and royal city for centuries, Turin has many fine palaces. The Madama Palace, begun in the 13th century, owes its name to the resident widows of the 17th-century dukes of Savoy; it now houses the Museum of Ancient Arts. The Carignano Palace, the birthplace of King Victor Emmanuel II and once the meeting place of the Sardinian chamber of deputies and of the first Italian parliament, now houses the National Museum of the Italian Risorgimento. The Royal Palace houses the Royal Armory, with one of the finest collections of arms in Europe. The Academy of Science , formerly a Jesuit college, now houses the Museum of Antiquities, the Egyptian Museum, and the Sabauda Gallery.

+ Shown here is the Piazza San Carlo at sunrise, in Turin City: