Piazza San Carlo

Piazza San Carlo is one of the most important squares of Turin,  it can be defined as the beating heart of Turin. 168 meters long and 76 wide, the square has an area of ​​12,768 square meters, is inserted in middle of the main street Via Roma, which connects Piazza Castello and Piazza Carlo Felice.

On the south side, there are two twin baroque churches, the Santa Cristina (1639), designed by Castellamonte, and San Carlo, built in 1619 and attributed to various architects including Castellamonte. The concave side of the first, was redesigned in 1715 by Filippo Juvarra. The facade of the church of San Carlo is instead of Lombard Caronesi Ferdinand (1836).

Being in the center of the town, rarely to be seen quiet and calm, somehow in last summer one early before noon, happened to witness the square in a slightly different light.

Piazza carlo Alberto

Piazza Carlo Alberto is one of the main squares of the historic city center.

 Palazzo Carignano

The place takes its name from the King of Sardinia Carlo Alberto of Savoy, son of Charles Emmanuel of Savoy-Carignano, whose family owned the eponymous palace, whose century facade can still be seen on one side of the Piazza Carlo Alberto. It stands where once was the gardens inside the imposing baroque building designed by Guarino Guarini, through walls, it was connected to the front of the stables building that now houses the prestigious headquarters of the National Library. The area was reorganized by breaking down the walls, giving rise to the square between 1842 and 1859.
 Opposite the Palazzo Carignano and the equestrian statue of Carlo Alberto, stands the magnificent building that houses today, the National Library of Turin.

Royal Palace of Turin

Royal Palace of Turin or Palazzo Reale, is a palace in Turin, northern Italy. It was the royal palace of the House of Savoy. It was modernised greatly by the French born Madama Reale Christine Marie of France (1606-1663) in the seventeenth century. The palace was worked on by Filippo Juvarra. It includes the Palazzo Chiablese.

( From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

 Its rooms are decorated with rich tapestries and a collection of Chinese and Japanese vases. The Royal Armory houses an extensive array of arms, including examples from the 16th and 17th centuries.
The Scala delle Forbici is a staircase by Filippo Juvarra.
The Chapel of the Holy Shroud, with its spiral dome, was built in the west wing of the palace, joining the apse of the cathedral of St. John the Baptist, to house the famous Shroud of Turin which belonged to the family from 1453 until 1946.

 The palace in a strange foggy night...

Torre Littoria

Built in 1933, Torre Littoria is the first and tallest residential building in Torino (Turin). It is situated in the center of the city, in via Viotti, a few steps from Piazza Castello.

A project is undergoing for approval, which will make public access to part of the Tower Littoria, it will include an exclusive 19 floor cafeteria and a restaurant on the eighth floor, taking advantage of the large terrace overlooking to the marvelous view of Piazza Castello.

Turin city, Torino Night View

A sky view of torino taken some years back....

The tall building is La Mole Antonelliana and further up on the hill is La Superga.
The Mole Antonelliana is a major landmark of the Italian city of Turin. It is named for the architect who built it, Alessandro Antonelli. In Italian "Mole" (literally, "size") indicates a building of monumental proportions. Construction began in 1863, soon after Italian unification and was completed 26 years later, after the architect's death. Today it houses the National Museum of Cinema, and it is believed to be the tallest museum in the world.
(Quote from  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mole_Antonelliana)

First clear day....

One can only appreciate such a clear day with the clear blue sky after days of snowing with heavily loaded cloudy sky....

With San Tommaso church.

Snow on rooftop

By now, it seems that the snowing has completely stopped, left only some hardened snows by the roadsides and on the rooftops...

Sant Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine day! Buon Valentino!

Final snow, hopefully

Final bits of snow, left with icy road and muddy snow....

Lights and shadows and snow.....

Snow on saturday night

Yesterday night was snowing, thin snow flakes flying in the wind, sort of beautiful. 

Snowing at via Dei Mercati.

Look cheerful, as though celebration.....( Street lamp along Via Pietro Micca.)

Palazzo Madama

Inside the palazzo

The stairs....

Look up from the entrance....

This has nothing to do with the palazzo, just like to see it here....:)

Night views from the balcony

Once a while, like to look out from the balcony and look at the street leading to the piazza castello...

 The buildings, they always fascinate me....

A day with sun

A warmer, even sunny day.....

Wamer day

The temperature is warmer, meaning above 0°C. The streets are still piled with snow on the sides, but the chilly wind has stopped. Unfortunately, forcast is that tomorrow or saturday the cold air will return and possibily also the snow.

The afternoon walk.

The car front window in the morning

The frozen branches at night.

Another day of icy and cold

I was just hoping for 2, 3 days of snow.....yet it has been a week now and the temperature is still below 0°c.

A fallen leave......

Frozen ice on branch...

An ice spur.....

Empty benches.....

Covered in snow....

In the park

Is always feel good seeing people having fun regardless of the season and the temperature....

 

Kids sliding down the snow slope.....

 

People walking on the slippery icy road in the park.

Chilly sunday

Not snowing today, but the streets, the fields are all covered by icy snow, cold, hard and slippery...

A walk at Valentino park

Finally the snow had stopped, still pretty cold, but decided to take a walk to parco Valentino for some shooting.
The usual green grass field are all covered by white, thick snow, leaveless trees are hanging with frozen snow and ice, quite an unsual view for the park as I normally come here only in spring or summer. It was really worth the two hours walk under the cold temperature.

The Castle of Valentino (Italian Castello del Valentino) is an historic building in the north-west Italian city of Turin. It is located in Valentino Park, and is the seat of the Architecture Faculty of the Polytechnic University of Turin. It is one of the Residences of the Royal House of Savoy included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1997.
(Quote from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castello_del_Valentino)

The normally green field is now covered by snow high up to the ankle.

Fontana del Ceppi, also known as the fontain of the 12 months, each statue represents each month of the year, now the normally running water is off and the pool has frozen into ice.

  Borgo e la Rocca medievali, the medieval town and fortress.

This is a fairly faithful reproduction of a typical late medieval town where streets are rebuilt, houses, churches, plazas, fountains and decorations of that era surrounded by walls and fortifications and dominated by a fortress. It is accessed through a tower-door.

A snowman guarding the medieval fortress.

Just another view of the park on the way leaving.

Someone actually built an igloo by the roadside, seems like the torinesi are having fun with the snowy winter.

A view of Superga from Lungo Po Antonelli.

The Basilica of Superga (Italian: Basilica di Superga) is a church in the vicinity of Turin.

It was built from 1717 to 1731 for Victor Amadeus II of Savoy by Filippo Juvarra, at the top of the hill of Superga, to fulfill a vow the duke (and future King of Sardinia) had made during the Battle of Turin. The architect made allusions to different earlier styles while adding a baroque touch. The church contains the tombs of many of the princes and kings of the House of Savoy, including the Monument to Carlo Emanuele III (1733) by Ignazio Collino and his brother Filippo. Under the church are the tombs of the Savoy family, including most of its members (among them, Chaarles Albert). This church by Juvarra is considered Late Baroque-Classicism. The dome was completed in 1726 and resembles some elements of Michealangelo's dome at St. Peter's cathedral. This is no coincidence as Juvarra studied and worked in Rome for ten years prior to working in Turin. The temple front protrudes from a dome structure citing the Pantheon. The temple from is larger than typical proportions because the Superga is set upon this hill. It is also believed that Victor Amadeus wanted the basilica to rest on this hill as reminder of the power of the Savoy family as well as continue a line of sight to the existing castle in Rivolli. Later, the Stupinigi, will complete the triangle between the three residences of Savoy.

(Quote from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica_of_Superga)

Pigeons are everywhere , this is a nice and plump one at the river side looking at me, hoping for food.

Daily post Theme Day.

A cold winter morning view of Ponte Vittorio and Cappuccini after the snow....

 

Looking at Gran madre church from Piazza Vittorio with the snow covered hill as backdrop.