Beautiful baroque squares and fabulous food make Turin worthy of more than a pitstop, says Rodney Bolt. Photographs by Stefano Scata

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1 Short break Grand Torino Beautiful baroque squares and fabulous food make Turin worthy of more than a pitstop, says Rodney Bolt. Photographs by Stefano Scata ITALY W hat images does the word Turin conjure up for you? Fiat factories, rowdy football supporters? For years, I skimmed past it on my way to holidays elsewhere. Until, one day, I stopped off and, to my surprise, discovered a baroque gem. Elegantly set on the River Po, with the Alps as a backdrop, Turin has an illustrious, centuries-old pedigree as the seat of the royal house of Savoy. When the new Kingdom of Italy was formed out of a motley collection of states exactly 150 years ago, Turin became its first capital. Centuries of riches and political posturing have created show-off palazzos, imposing churches and graceful piazzas. Turin is Above, the illuminated Vittorio Emanuele bridge, over the River Po, and Gran Madre di Dio church now quite as chic as Milan but not nearly as uppity. City boulevards are edged with shadowy porticos that add a touch of mystery to the mood. The streets that lead off them break here and there into scuttles of little cobbled alleys, lined with enticing shops. Through a gap between stuccoed façades, you may suddenly glimpse snow-capped Alps, or the quirky Mole Antonelliana, once the tallest brick building in the world. A gloriously gadget-filled film museum, a rich stash of ancient Egyptian treasures and cuttingedge contemporary art collections all add to the allure. Then comes cooking that can elicit tears of October 2011 Condé Nast Traveller ShortBreakTR34353.indd ShortBreakTR pgs /13/11 02:01 7:37 AM

2 Short break delight (and sap all resistance) and if all that weren t enough, the best chocolate in Italy. After that first visit, I was hooked. The ancient Romans bequeathed Turin a regimented grid layout, which relaxes at intervals into broad piazzas, each with its particular character, like different family members occupying separate apartments in a mansion. Piazza Castello, the geographic core of the city, boasts the grand Savoy palaces. To the south, the traffic-free, resplendently baroque Piazza San Carlo buzzes with conversation, as people sip coffee at outdoor tables, or stroll about as if in a giant salon. Between the two, and stretching south to a hectic triumvirate of piazzas fronting Porta Nuova station, lies the true heart of town the big museums and commercial bustle. To the east, an elongated Piazza Vittorio Veneto runs down to the river and is fashionable Turin s prime gathering spot for evening cocktails. Off the western corner of Piazza Castello, the Quadrilatero Romano (Roman Quarter) is the restaurant and nightlife hub of the city. Beyond that is Piazza Statuto, reportedly the Gates of Hell though the carvings of strikingly well-appointed young men disporting themselves on the rocks of the central fountain hint that Hades might, for some at least, be more fun than is usually advertised. (Turin, once home to the seer Nostradamus and at the intersection of a Triangle of Good incorporating Prague and Lyon and a Line of Evil linking it with London and Paris, bubbles bright in the cauldrons of practitioners of both black and white magic.) O n my first visit, I was drawn by the sober, contemplative strand that runs through the baroque huff and puff. Bookshops abound well-stocked emporia, poky specialist shops, stalls laid out under the porticos. Turin has a university that dates back to 1404, was Primo Levi s home town and, as headquarters of Einaudi, one of Italy s leading publishers, attracted such writers and thinkers as Italo Calvino, Cesare Pavese and Antonio Gramsci. There are grand cafés, dripping with crystal and gleaming with gilt, where dowagers in furs and high finery sit, munching silently through mounds of cream cakes. But even Clockwise from top left: arcade on Via Cernaia; Piazza Vittorio Veneto, and the spire of the Mole Antonelliana; Galleria San Federico; Caffè Confetteria al Bicerin, named for the local drink more abundant are cosy bars, where conversation hums and wooden chairs drawn up around marbled-topped tables in the immersing shade of the porticos where the woes of the world are turned over and resolved. The artist Giorgio de Chirico passed through town in 1911 and, though he stayed just a few days, was deeply moved. Turin is the most profound, most enigmatic and most disquieting city, not only of Italy but of the world, he remarked. Those deep, shaded porticos were to appear in his paintings for the rest of his life. Yet there s a lighter side to the city, too. Two of my favourite spots in the Quadrilatero Romano are Casa Mad, a bar named after its owner Daniela Madeddu, and Osteria della Cima, a somewhat fly-by-night restaurant. I first experienced Casa Mad well after midnight. An artist was 76 Condé Nast Traveller October ShortBreakTR34353.indd ShortBreakTR pgs /13/11 02:01 7:38 AM

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