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Turin (Torino) is Italy's fourth-largest city and capital of the Piedmont region. It is located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and is often referred to as 'the Capital of the Alps'.

Turin used to be a major European political centre and in 1861 was Italy's first capital city and home to Italy's royal family. Much of its political significance was lost during World War II but it has since become a major European capital for industry, commerce and trade. Nowadays it is one of Italy's main industrial centres and is a flourishing, industrious and cosmopolitan city. It is home the headquarters of the automobile manufacturers Fiat, Lancia and Alfa Romeo. Several International Space Station modules were built here and it provided the first ever Slow Food Supermarket.

Some of the best universities, colleges and academies are in Turin, along with some prestigious and important museums such as the Museo Egizio and the Mole Antonelliana. The city is rich in both culture and history and has numerous art galleries, churches, palaces, opera houses, theatres, libraries and museums as well as piazzas, parks and gardens. Its rich past resulted in elegant squares, palaces and historic cafes which are flanked by almost 18km of colonnaded walkways.

A Sicilian architect, Filippo Juvarra, built many of the city's public squares, castles, gardens and elegant palaces and he modelled these buildings on the Baroque and classical style of Versailles. Examples of his work include the Royal Palace of Turin, the Palazzo Madam, Palazzina di Caccia di Stupinigi and the Basilica di Superga.

Perhaps one of the things that Turin is most famous for is the fact that it's cathedral houses the enigmatic Holy Shroud. On the rare public unveilings of the shroud thousands of Catholic pilgrims flock to Turin to catch a glimpse of this phenonama.

Popular and inexpensive, Turin is a 'green' city and its lack of crowds make it easy to get around and a great place to experience the É«ÖÐÉ« culture.

Turin
Population: 902,137
Male: 429,381
Female: 472,756
Population density: 6,930.5 per square km