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Highlights
Abbazia di Novalesa
Founded in the year 726 by Cistercian monks, the abbey is one of the most important historical and artistic testaments of the Western Alps. The frescoes in the chapel of Sant’Eldrado date back to the 11th century and still surprise the visitor today with the vividness of their colors.
Basilica di Superga (Torino)
The basilica was designed by the Mexican architect, Filippo Juvarra, and was conceived as a mausoleum for the House of Savoy. Classically inspired, it has a large staircase that leads to the pronaos, topped by a dome. There are two lovely bell towers on each side of the main structure.
Abbazia di Staffarda (Revello)
The complex, founded during the first half of the 12th century by Cistercian monks, includes a church with an elegant twin-columned cloister, monastic buildings (the guestrooms, the dining hall, and the capitulary hall are noteworthy), and nine farmsteads.
Abbazia di Sant'Antonio di Ranverso (Buttigliera Alta)
The abbey, along the Via Francigena between Rivoli and Avigliana at the entrance to the Val di Susa, is one of the most important monuments of international Gothic. The extraordinary frescoes by Giacomo Jaquerio, which decorated the abbey’s interior and the vestry, date back to the 15th century.
Abbazia di Vezzolano (Albugnano)
In a small valley in the area of Asti, among soft hills covered in grapevines, one can visit the most important Romanesque monument in Piemonte. The abbey has a façade decorated with capitals and statues and has a beautiful main entrance in bas relief.
Sacra di San Michele (Sant'Ambrogio di Torino)
The Sacra di San Michele, built between 983 and 987, is among the most famous Benedictine abbeys and is considered today among the best architectural complexes in Europe from the Romanesque period. Since 1994, through regional laws, it has become the symbolic monument of Piemonte.
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Places
Biblioteca Reale di Torino
The Biblioteca Reale (Royal Library) houses important collections of manuscripts, illuminated manuscripts, and engravings. Besides its 2,000 drawings, it has several drawings by Leonard Da Vinci, among which are: the Self-Portrait, the Volto dell’Angelo (the Angel’s Face), the preliminary drawing for the Vergine delle Rocce (Virgin of the Rocks), and the Codice sul Volo (Codex on the Flight of Birds).
Abbazia di Novalesa
Near the monastery, there are four chapels dedicated to Saint Mary, Saint Salvador, Saint Michael, and the most important one to Saint Eldrado which has two splendid fresco cycles (from the late 11th century) narrating moments from the lives of Saint Eldrado and Saint Nicholas.
Castello di Mazzč
In the ancient underground parts of the medieval castle is the Museo della Tortura (Museum of Torture): tools and methods from the Holy Inquisition. The building is surrounded by a large park with a scenic view looking out over the Canavese.
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People
Alessandro Del Piero
"Torino is the city where I arrived at 18 and where I became a man, where I bought my house and fit it to suit me over the years, where the friends I see live, the city where my wife was born."
Roberto Capucci
“Torino is an aristocratic city, not a scoundel. You natives are spared because there is not too much tourism and this is a great fortune. There is a class to this city that no longer exists elsewhere. I’m reminded of a woman like Rita Levi Montalcini, for whom I have designed over 50 dresses”.
Giuliano Montaldo
“I shot my first film Tiro al piccione in Piemonte in 1960 on Lago Maggiore. Today, for the filming of I Demoni di San Pietroburgo, I wanted to return to the scene of the crime…it’s an historic film that transfers great literature to the plains of Piemonte among the Palazzi and Sabaude residences of Torino”.
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