Spring Time By The River

Spring, a good time to sit by the river side with a dear friend and chat about whatever....

These few days , the weather is particularly fine for getting out and furthermore, face to face chatting has became precious in this mobile phone era....

Liberation Day

Italy's Liberation Day (Festa della Liberazione), also known as the Anniversary of the Liberation (Anniversario della liberazione d'Italia), Anniversary of the Resistance (anniversario della Resistenza), or simply April 25 is a national Italian holiday commemorating the end of the Italian Civil War and the end of Nazi occupation of the country during World War II.

The date was chosen by convention, as it was the day of the year 1945 when the National Liberation Committee of Upper Italy (CLNAI) officially proclaimed the insurgency in a radio announcement, announcing the seizure of power by the CLNAI and the death sentence for all fascist leaders (including Benito Mussolini, who was shot three days later).
By May 1, all of northern Italy was liberated, including Bologna (April 21), Genoa (April 23), Milan and Turin (April 25), and Venice (April 28). The liberation put an end to twenty years of fascist dictatorship and five years of war. It symbolically represents the beginning of the historical journey which led to the referendum of June 2, 1946, when Italians opted for an end to the monarchy and the creation of the Italian Republic, which was followed by the adoption of the republic's Constitution of Italy in 1948.

The actual date was chosen in 1946, and in most Italian cities, marches and parades are organised to commemorate the event. On April 22, 1946, the Disposizioni in materia di ricorrenze festive ("Provisions on festive occasions") decree created the national holiday. The bill states that Per celebrare la totale liberazione del territorio italiano, il 25 aprile 1946 è dichiarato festa nazionale ("In celebration of the total liberation of the Italian territory, April 25, 1946 is declared a national holiday"). On May 27, 1949, bill 260 made the anniversary a permanent, annual national holiday.

( Texts extracted from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberation_Day_(Italy))

 Parade passing by via Pietro Micca going towards piazza Castello.
 

Superman Vs Batman

Window display of a men fashion shop, in tune with the Superman Vs Batman movie released in cinema......fortunately the clothing they sell are more appropriate for normal people like us.

Obelisk At Piazza Statuto

Already in the Roman era this western part of the city, where the sun sets and darkness begins, was considered a poor area. For this reason, beyond the Porta Segusina, more precisely towards the slope that currently leads to merge with Corso Regina Margherita, convicted were crucifixed and deads were buried. This area was named precisely vallis occisorum (hence the name of the Valdocco area) and a vast necropolis took place which included the present area of ​​Corso Francia up to current via Cibrario and over Prince Eugene.

In 1864, the square was the scene of bloody clashes of the riots for the transfer of the capital.These historical precedents contributed to the belief that the square had something evil, until they become, as part of the legends of magical Turin, the vertex of the triangle of black magic (the others would be London and San Francisco). To be precise, it is believed that the summit of the triangle falls at the point indicated by a small obelisk with an astrolabe on top, located in the border of the small garden in front of the monument of the railway tunnel of Frejus.  

Actually this obelisk was erected in 1808 on a geodetic point, in memory of an old trigonometric calculation of 1760 on the length of a portion of the earth's meridian (the Gradus Taurinensis), performed along with other geographic points in Piedmont municipalities, in Rivoli (in which there is an twin obelisk ), in Andrate and Mondovi, by the famous Piedmontese mathematical geophysicist  Giovanni Battista Beccaria (the obelisk in fact, is also called "spire Beccaria"). To the latter it was also called the small stretch of the course (which was also the shortest course of Turin, 100 m, whose primacy then went over Ciro Menotti, just 60 m away) running from the obelisk to the garden Corso Principe Eugenio.Finally, at the center of the square near the fountain of Frejus, there is access leading to the sewer system here has its main hub. This factor also favored the emergence of legends and beliefs who want the Square as the center of negative magic or even the point of entry of one of the three "Alchemical Caves" that would be present in the city.There are organized tours that include the square as one of the main stages.

Via IV Marzo

Via lV Marzo is the street directly in front of the Duomo, it is quite a busy street where traffic leads to the two parallel roads : via XX Settembre and via Milano which have their own heavy traffic.

The buildings along this not so big street are pretty interesting in theirs own way.

Lo Scalone Juvarra

 Filippo Juvarra (March 7, 1678 – January 31, 1736) was an Italian architect and stage set designer, active in a late-Baroque style.
One of his masterworks in palace construction is the façade (1718–21) of the Palazzo Madama in central Turin. It recalls the formality of Andrea Palladio Palladio’s Palazzo Chiericati but with the enhancement of detail and windows. While the facade appears to house an airy piano nobile, it in fact is merely a scenic, almost theatrical gesture, sheltering a grandiose entry stairway entrance to a medieval castle. But this work was also part of an ambitious program to recast the crowded, medieval layout of central Turin into a more open and planned set of connected plazas.

The symbolic Juvarra stairs ( Scala Delle Forbici ) at palazzo Madama were once opened to public free entrance to get up to upper floor's hall, from there it provides a nice view of piazza Castello looking toward the busy via Garibaldi. Since the 31st of March 2016, it was decided only ticket holders are allowed to enter, the reason given was for security....Yet on every first Wednesday of the month, public is granted free entry and the security seems isn't an issue anymore.

Proiettile Assedio

The sanctuary of the Consolata, or according to the official name, the Church of Our Lady of Consolation, is a Catholic church located behind the street of the same name and is one of the oldest places of worship of Turin.

Its unfavorable geographical location, as close to the city walls, made the sanctuary particularly vulnerable to heavy bombardment of the siege of Turin in 1706 but, despite the gunfire, it remained largely intact: a projectile that struck the base of the dome can be noticed even today from via della Consolata. On the outer side wall it is possible to see its memorial plaque bearing the inscription "PROJECTILE SIEGE 1704".

An interior view of the church

The Other View Of Gran Madre

View of Gran Madre Church from behind....it doesn't really look like a church from this view.
Despite being named Gran Madre, the inside of the church is quite small....

Between The Pillars

At the entrance of Palazzo Carignano, a woman sat between the huge pillars to make a phone call.....

A quiet corner in the busy center of the city to make a phone call....

CDP April Theme - The Beauty of Simplicity

The beauty of simplicity....

A close up of the 'simple' form of a paper rose 

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