Popular sports
The Piedmontese have always loved sports: the first sports associations were founded here and great local champions have risen from poverty and obscurity to dominate the world sporting scene. Even the smallest town in Piedmont has a wide range of sports clubs and associations maintaining the educational and social function of sport in the community, while fostering the talent of future champions.
The dedicated work of these clubs throughout the region is responsible for the resounding success of international events like the Turin marathon, or the “Primo Nebiolo” Memorial Athletics Meeting, now part of the Gran Prix II circuit.
The sport of fencing in Italy originated in Piedmont, and fencers from the region have met with international success, winning several Gold medals at successive Olympic Games. As early as 1910, Turin was the venue for an ice hockey match, the first time this fast, tough, exciting sport had been seen in Italy. During the 2006 Winters Olympics hockey matches will be contested in the new sports complex designed by Arata Isoaki.
Piedmontese soccer fans divide their loyalties passionately between the two city teams: Toro and Juventus. But these are only two examples of successful sports teams in a region that boasts close to a thousand clubs. Apart from soccer, other sports have large followings in Piedmont and have excelled in high level competition, thanks to the excellent organization of the local clubs and their skill at encouraging young talent. To mention a few, the baseball teams from Avigliana and Novara, basketball teams from Biella and volleyball teams from Novara and Cuneo have been very successful in national championships.
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Places
Sacro Monte di Crea
Built at the end of the 1500’s, the Sacro Monte di Crea has 23 chapels and 5 hermitages scattered throughout the woods and connected to each other by paths. The chapels narrate the life of the Virgin Mary and house extraordinary life-size statuary groups.
Villa Taranto Botanical Gardens
Villa Taranto and its gardens, which look out over Lago Maggiore, have a vast botanical trove that includes about 1,000 plants, which until today had never been cultivated in Italy, and about 20,000 varieties and species of particular botanical importance.
Filatoio Rosso di Caraglio
The Filatoio (Spinning Mill), built between 1676 and 1678, is an extraordinary example of 17th century Piemonte “industrial architecture”. Today, completely restored, it houses the Museo Regionale della Seta (Regional Silk Museum), as well as contemporary art shows.
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People
Alain Elkann
“Torino remains a beautiful city, but not only that, it is also a serious city in which one can work well. One feels protected…Then, in those hills on certain winter days when the sky is blue and the air is clean, it’s like being in Kathmandu”.
Wim Wenders
"I could live in Torino if they offered me an office on the top floor of the Mole Antonelliana, a location perfect for a director."
Umberto Eco
"Without Italy, Torino would be more or less the same. But, without Torino, Italy would be very different."
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