Italian Tour Series : Piazza San Carlo
The Renaissance Influence
The Renaissance. In Italian "Rinascimento" or "Rebirth" in English. This is the term that is used to describe the cultural explosion that took place primarily in Italy, and then the rest of Europe that marked the end of the Middle Ages. It is roughly the time span between the 14th and 16th century. Although being founded in 28 C.E by the Romans, Turin was the first capital of Italy and was
one of the centers of the renaissance movement.To start our tour of the city we will start (of course) my absolute favorite place in all the city. Piazza San Carlo. During the renaissance it was very much the fad to gather in an open piazza or plaza. If you notice, there are very few American cities or English cites that still maintain large open spaces. Space is simply too precious waste. However in Europe the plaza was used as a gathering point for religious, political or democratic purposes. The American and English colonies had the Town Hall, Europeans had the plaza. Piazza San Carlo served this purpose for years it was used as the political seat of the city. One of the first noticeable things that you would see entering into this plaza is the large statue of Emanuele Filiberto re-sheathing his sword an act signifying victory. In fact this statue is a monument to his victory in the battle of San Quintino. It is a very beautiful plaza, the architechture and layout of the cobblestone that paves the plaza utilizes larges swooping curves that are very easy to follow with the eye. Being completely restored after the bombardment by the Americans in the second world war the buildings seems almost new.
The Twin Churches
At one end of the plaza there is an interesting feature. The two churches San Carlo and San Cristina stand as two sentinels watching the street that leads on towards the southwestern side of the city.
There were both built in 1639, then restored in 1715.Let's Get a Drink
When the Cafè came into vogue around the 1800's Piazza San Carlo was the first to house these locales. The two oldest, Caffè San Carlo (1828) and Caffè Torino, are still existing today and are situated under the plaza's picturesque porticoes. Tourists can drink a great espresso outside in the plaza wh
ile enjoying this great plaza in the heart of Turin.Labels: Italian Tour, San Carlo, Torino
posted by Ross @ 12:52 AM
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