A Portrait of Turin

A Warning

Anything stated here about Turin is subject to change. As I write this, at the beginning of November 2005, much of the city is still preparing for the Olympics. Half the buildings in the historic center are swaddled in scaffolding for a quick scrubbing of their marble facades before the limelight hits. Whole piazze and streets are torn up as workers hurriedly install underground parking lots, finish a brand-new subway system, and make ready to move the bulk of high-speed rail service from one train station to another.

Some of the city's major attractions are preparing for the onslaught of visitors and attention, as well. The Palazzo Madama is finally slated to reopen after years of restoration have kept its interiors—and its noted gallery of medieval and Renaissance art—closed to visitors. This layer cake of architecture mixes the skeleton of a Roman gate with the body of a medieval castle, the whole of it slapped with a baroque façade by Filippo Juvarra, including a staircase down which Michael Caine careened in a Mini Cooper in the original The Italian Job.

Also reopening (we hope) will be the various wings of the Palazzo Reale, which sprawls across the north side of Piazza Castello. Backed by gardens laid out by Le Nôtre of Versailles fame, this was the Savoy royal residence from the 17th to the 19th centuries. In addition to the usual rooms of sumptuous furnishings, pompous oil paintings, precious objets d'art, and gilded frippery, the Palazzo Reale complex houses an impressive Armeria Reale (Royal Armory) of arms and armor set in gorgeous baroque ballrooms. The Biblioteca Reale (Royal Library) is only accessible during special exhibitions, but I think we can trust them to open it for such a major event as the Olympics—or, at the very least, to trot out the library's most treasured possession: Leonardo da Vinci's famous self-portrait, sketched in red ink on a freckled sheet of paper—a sad-eyed old man with wispy white hair and a long flowing beard.

Turin During the Games

Beyond the bevy of sights and cafes, Turin will pull out all the stops during the February Games. Museums and monuments will have special extended open hours, the contemporary art gallery in the Castello di Rivoli will host a triennale showcasing young talents, and the annual Luci d'Artista—in which prominent contemporary artists from around the world are invited to create outdoor sculptures using Christmas lights—will remain up through the end of February. There are even rumors that the Shroud of Turin will put in a special appearance, as it did for the Papal Jubilee celebrations of 2000.

Few of the details on the whole cavalcade of special events and spectacles are as yet hammered out. As February approaches and plans become firm, you can get updates and schedules from the city, tourism, and events offices.

One thing is certain: The heart of the city will change entirely during the Games. For this, the first "urban" winter Olympics, the organizers are taking a page from the Salt Lake City playbook and, instead of handing out medals on the spot to athletes still breathing hard and dripping sweat from their performances, each day's medals ceremony will be in the evening, back in Turin itself. As a backdrop for the medals stage, they'll use the elegant series of arcaded palazzi that line Piazza Castello, turning Turin's central square into a showcase to introduce the world to this most genteel of Italian cities.

Reid Bramblett is a guidebook author and the creator of the travel planning site ReidsGuides.com. He is currently working on the Turin and Piemonte chapter for the new Pauline Frommer's Guide to Italy.

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