Managing water in a changing world

Turin is located in northwest Italy. It is surrounded on the western and northern front by the Alps and on the eastern front by a high hill that's the natural prosecution of the hills of Monferrato. Four major rivers pass through the city: the Po and two of its tributaries, the Dora Riparia (later changed to "Duria Minor" by the Romans, from the Celtic duria meaning "water"), the Stura di Lanzo, and the Sangone.

Turin has a continental climate (Cfa category according with the Köppen classification), unlike most of Italy which is famous for its comfortable Mediterranean climate. Winters are cold but dry, summers are mild in the hills and quite hot in the plains. The hottest period of the year is usually between July 15 and August 15. Rain falls mostly during spring and autumn; during the hottest months, otherwise, rains are less usual but more strong (20 thunderstorms per year, of which 2 with hail, are usual). During the winter and autumn months banks of fog, which are sometimes very thick, form in the plains.

Climatology of Torino, based on the data recorded at the station of the Ufficio Idrografico del Po (near Porta Susa station), based on the trentennial reference period 1961-1990.

Torino's story begins in the third century A.C. when, along the banks of the Po, there were the first settled tribes "taurine", probably descendants of Celtic, Ligurian and Gallic families migrated beyond the Alps in search of cultivable plains.

During the Roman period of expansion, the ancient settlement was the scene of wars and alliances with Rome. Julius Caesar decided to foundate a real military post, and Augustus made a border wall and a military camp, naming it Augusta Taurinorum (29-28 BC).

Being located along the main door of the Western Alps, after the fall of the Roman Empire, Torino was later subject to the Goths, the Lombards and the Franks invasions who settled in a county (VII cent. AD).

After a long time, the Savoy dinasty settled by interposing in a complex interplay of forces between the Empire, the Bishops, the feudal Lords and the Municipality. Finally, Torino was granted to the Savoy dinasty by the Emperor Federico II.

At the beginning of the fifteenth century, the Savoy unified politically and administratively the provinces of the Savoy region and transferred the capital from Chambery to Torino.

After a short period of French domination in Torino, in 1566 the Duke Emanuele Filiberto conquired Torino and the Savoy and decided, for political reasons, to move the capital of his kingdom from Chambery to Torino.

In 1620 the Duke Carlo Emanuele I decided the first extension of the city of Torino, until that moment limited to the original Roman perimeter. During this first phase of development, an "ordered" structure of roads and major courses aligned, perhaps inspired by the ancien Roman structure, was created or rebuilted, and a lot of palaces were builded.

This period, lasting about two centuries, is the most fruitful in the history, the art and the culture of Torino. Between the 16^th and the 18^th century, Torino assumed the appearance of a strict and austere capital which reserved the luxury and opulence to the government and nobility buildings. Several architects, as Ascanio Vitozzi, Carlo and Amedeo di Castellamonte, Guarino Guarini and Filippo Juvarra, were called and created authoritative masterpieces of the Baroque style in Piedmont.

During this period, three successive rational extensions of the city were performed. During another short French domination in the early nineteenth century, the ancien Roman and medieval fortified walls were dismantled. But the structure of the city, especially of its historic center, where the road layout, structures and architectural theories of the long arcades give space, form and life to harmonious and pleasant squares, contributes to give to the visitor an impression of ancient aristocracy, which does not conflict with the growing contour of modern residential areas and its industrial suburbs.

During the central years of the nineteenth century, when the Risorgimento led to the unification of Italy, Torino became for three years (1861-1864) the capital of the Kingdom of Italy, and since that date began to show its growing industrial vocation, abandoning gradually the traditional urban structure.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, the industrial development was tumultuous with the birth of big business enterprises and a resulting strong migration of workers from the southern Italy: in that period the population of Torino almost doubled.

Originally supposed to be a Jewish temple, the construction of this tower begun in 1863 under the design of Alessandro Antonelli. Among financial vicissitudes and controversies about its stability, the work was completed only in 1889. Extremely important in terms of structural originality (its altitude is 167 m) and functionality, flexibility and economy, is now site of the new National Museum of Cinema. A panoramic elevator provides access to the tower.

Piazza (square) Castello is the core and the heart of the monumental city. Surrounded by arcades, it was designed in 1584 by the architect Vitozzi, and represents the development of the Torino city from the Roman style to the Risorgimental one. At its center there is Palazzo Madama, the medieval castle made on the old Roman gate renovated with the facade created by the architect Juvarra. From this square the major streets (Via Roma, Via Pietro Micca, Via Po and the pedestrian Via Garibaldi) start. There are also important commercial and administrative buildings in this square: the Palazzo Reale (Royal Palace), the Teatro Regio (Royal theatre), the Palace of the Regional Council, the Prefecture, the Secretariats, the Armeria (Armery), the Royal Library (which contains works by Leonardo da Vinci), and the State Archive.

These gates are the only remaining visible gates of the ancien Roman city Augusta Taurinorum (Porta principalis) and of the medieval fortress, the Palatium, builded later on the gates, from which they derive their name. They overlook the Piazza del Duomo, the close characteristic market of Porta Palazzo and the Museum of Antiquities, and also the remains of the Roman Theater.

This high panoramic point of the hill was chosen by the Duke Vittorio Amedeo II of Savoy to erect a magnificent Basilica, designed by Filippo Juvarra. It was inaugurated in 1731 by Carlo Emanuele III. The great mausoleum built in its basement houses the tombs of many Savoy kings and Princes. This Basilica represents a symbol characterizing the city and is one of the top tourist destinations.

Located at the center of Piazza Castello, Palazzo Madama (Madam's Palace) derives its name from the fact that was an integral part of the 'castle' built on the old Roman gates (Porta Praetoria) adjacent to it. During the eigthteenth century, architect Juvarra drew the magnificent facade. This building was the seat of the Senate, while today it houses the Museum of Ancient Art (1863).

Built in the Valentino Park in occasion of the International Expo of 1884, this "fake" quarter is an accurate reconstruction of Gothic houses located in several towns in Piedmont and Valle d'Aosta. The architect D'Andrade, who directed the research and work, was moved by a purely educational purpose: to illustrate the life in a village and its castle in Piedmont during the fifteenth century, and to document the historical and artistic aspects with particular attention dedicated to daily consumable products.

Church located on the banks of the Po river and built as neo-classical cathedral in 1827-31, allows a good sight on the imposing Piazza Vittorio Veneto, which is connected to the church via the Ponte Vittorio Emanuele I. It is the ossuary mausoleum of the WWI.

It is an original creation of architect and mathematician Guarini (1679-85), who designed the imposing baroque facade, the majestic lobby, and a beautiful garden that stretched as far as Via Bogino (now Piazza Carlo Alberto). Linked to important events in the Italian and Piedmontese history, was a temporary house of the Italian Parliament. The Palazzo houses now the Museo Nazionale of Italian Risorgimento.

Adjacent to Piazza Castello and close to the Porte Palatine, is made in Renaissance style (very rare in Torino). This church is dedicated to St. John the Baptist. Built in 1491-98 by the will of Cardinal Domenico Della Rovere, contains a chapel and a baroque dome which kept a silver reliquary containing the Holy Shroud, the precious relic which is considered to be the cloth that wrapped the body of Christ. Unfortulately the dome is still closed after the disastrous fire that destroyed part of the dome more that 10 years ago.

Torino, Italy