Torino
Known first by the Romans as Augusta Taurinorum and later as Taurinum, Turin is the capital city of the Piedmont region. First populated by the Taurini, it was conquered by Hannibal in 218 BCE after he allied with their enemy tribe, the Insubres, capturing their main town (Taurasia) after a three-day siege. The official Roman colony was established in 28 BCE.
With the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the city switched hands several times, first conquered by the Heruli and the Ostrogoths, recaptured by Rome, then captured by the Lombards and then the Franks. The Counts of Savoy began to rule it in the 11th century, with the city being annexed to the Duchy of Savoy in the 13th, and later made into its capital in 1563.
The 17th century saw the construction of many important landmarks, including the Piazza San Carlo (at the time known as the Piazza Reale), the Palazzo Reale, and the arcaded Via Po, which connects Piazza Castello with the river after which it is named.
During the Battle of Turin (1706), the French attempted to invade the city unsuccessfully as part of the War of the Spanish Succession. The Treaty of Utrecht, drafted at the end of this war, granted the current Duke of Savoy the title of King of Sardinia, which turned Turin into the capital of a kingdom.
The entirety of Piedmont was annexed to the French Empire in 1802, though it was restored in 1814. Thus began the struggle for unification, which culminated in 1861 with the foundation of the Kingdom of Italy. As Turin had been the center of the Risorgimento movement, it naturally became the unified kingdom’s first capital. It did not last long, however, as the capital was first moved to Florence in 1865, and then to Rome in 1870, once the Papal States were conquered. This time period saw the creation of more famous landmarks, including the Mole Antonelliana, the Museo Egizio, the Piazza Veneto, and the Chiesa della Gran Madre di Dio.
The city became an automotive industrial center during the 19th century with the foundation of Fiat and Lancia, which also turned it into a strategic target during WWII. Turin was bombed several times, with the heaviest raid taking place on July 13, 1943, where 792 people were killed. Overall, 2,069 people perished and 54% of the city was destroyed.
Turin’s economy surged upwards in the 1950s-60s in what is today known as the Italian economic miracle, thanks in great part to its automotive industry and the flow of immigrants from southern Italy. Today, the city is considered one of the world’s top 250 tourist destinations, and it is the 10th most visited city in Italy.
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