Rain Comes Again

It’s been another week of rain, on and off, with no obvious signs of stopping completely. 

According to the weather forecast, the weather will be fine next week.

Location: Duomo

Distorted Reflection

The reflection of the Duomo and its bell tower on the top of a parked car along the street.

The slightly curvy top of the car distorted the reflection of the tower in quite a funny and crazy way.

Location: Duomo

Dog Days

 It is so hot, the temperature reaches 38 °C at 1700 hours and feels like 40 °C.

Prediction is that by Saturday the temperature will decrease when the rain comes in. 

Let's hope it is true.

Meanwhile, people are starting to strip off on the streets to fight off the heat.

Location : Piazza San Giovanni

Two Queues

 By now, this is rather normal to see two queues at the piazza in front of the cathedral.

One queue is the one at the entrance of the cathedral where vistors queuing up to see the Monumental Nativity Scene of Basilicata in the cathedral; the other one is in front of the tent outside the pharmacy, with people queuing up to receive swab for Covid 19. 

Location: Piazza San Giovanni

Up To The Bell Tower

Finally, we made it up to the bell tower of the Cathedral, San Giovanni Church.

Panorama View from the top of the Bell Tower

It was not because of the 200 plus steps that we had to climb, but just couldn't find the right time to pay a visit and also it opens only from Friday to Monday, and also it was closed due to the Covid.

Inside the top of the Bell Tower

The bell tower was built between 1468 and 1469 by the bishop Giovanni de Compey. In the lower part it has frames without arches, in the first order there are single-lancet windows with pointed arches, decorated with terracotta tile.

 View of The Cupola of the Cathedral, the Cupola of Chapel of the Holy Shroud and The Mole Antonelliana at the far end.

Recently restored, the bell tower is part of the tour of the Diocesan Museum. The bell tower was built in the second half of the fifteenth century by the will of the bishop Giovanni di Compey to accompany the bishop's complex then existing. 

 View of Turin's center from the top of the Bell Tower

Between 1720 and 1722 the court architect Filippo Juvarra worked on the crowning and the dome, but the works were interrupted before the latter was built. The tower thus took on its present appearance: a brick construction that ends with a baroque belfry in stucco and stone.  

 View of the Bell Tower beside the Cathedral

Thanks to the underground gallery that connects the Tower to the Lower Church of the Duomo, it is possible to access it and reach the belfry, over 43 meters high. From the top it is possible to admire an exceptional panorama: the city of Turin seen from above, surrounded by the Alps.  

Location: La Torre Campanaria

Chapel of the Holy Shroud

The Chapel of the Holy Shroud (Italian: Cappella della Sacra Sindone) is a Baroque-style Roman Catholic chapel in Turin in northern Italy. Located outside the Turin Cathedral and connected to the Royal Palace of Turin, the chapel was designed by the architect Guarino Guarini and built at the end of the 17th century (1668–1694), during the reign of Charles Emmanuel II, Duke of Savoy. The chapel was constructed to house the Shroud of Turin (Sindone di Torino), a religious relic believed by many to be the burial shroud of Jesus of Nazareth.

In 1997, the chapel was severely damaged by a massive fire, the cause of which is still a mystery. Firefighters who arrived on the scene managed to save the shroud allegedly by smashing through its bulletproof glass case. Subsequently, it was closed to the public and took over 21 years, and €30 million in funding to repair and restore the chapel to its original splendour. On September 27, 2018, the chapel reopened to the public with a ribbon cutting ceremony attended by the mayor and several government officials.

( Quote from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chapel_of_the_Holy_Shroud )

This was the first time I actually see the Chapel, since I came to Turin a year or so after the fire. I was visiting the Royal palace and walked past it without realising it was the famous Chapel. Glad that I stopped and went in for a look. 

Location : Duomo 

Contemporary Crosses

Not sure why are these crosses in the cathedral San Giovanni, placed at one side of the church, like a display art or sort....

At the same time when we were visiting the cathedral and looking at these crosses, outside the church a chinese girl with a certain pass hanging on her neck was having sort of a stomach ache. She looked pretty in pain, but declined any help from us, so we just left her there, as she claimed that someone was on the way to come and pick her up.

Was she the person incharge of those displayed crosses?

Location : Duomo

Offering By card

First time visited the cathedrale San Giovanni which is also the Duomo of Turin after quite a long time, it seems that it has caught up with modern technology, realised that there are machines which visitors can actually give their offerings by card, atm card, credit card....

Honestly, the machines look out of place in the cathedrale....

Location : Duomo di Torino

Rain Again On Friday

After a couple of hot days, the rain approached and fell hard.

It is nice to have the temperature lowered, but the retaurants and bars are not too happy, as they have mostly placed their serving tables outdoor, since due to the ristriction, the indoor tables are hugly reduced.

I am quite happy to be able to find some interesting reflection to shoot.

Location : Duomo

Silent Church

During the lockdown, the cathedral of Turin, chiesa San Giovanni, which normally has many visitors was closed. 

  
Now, although we are in the phase two, mass in churches is still not allowed, certain churches are still opened for people to go in and pray, but I think the cathedral remains closed to public.

Location : Duomo

Lockdown The Forty-Third Day

The 43rd day. It was raining.
Woke up late and had to go to the pharmacy before noon to retreat some medicines.
Turin is a beautiful city, elegant and not exaggerated. Even under the shadow of the pandemia, just added a sense of quieteness to her beauty.

The rain was fine but more abundant than anticipated, the streets were wet.

Stepped out of the pharmacy, walked towards the cathedral, the old man who was begging under the wall had gone. The door to the cathedral was tightly closed.
The holy church was left alone saoking under the rain 

Walked towards the piazza Castello where there were the two palaces. There was nobody walking around the piazza, except occasionally someone rode on a bicycles crossing the piazza.
Both magnificent palaces were just standing there under the rain with no more queue of people waiting in turn to admire them.

The streets were wet, the palaces were wet and the churches were wet....

Location : Via Pietro Micca/Duomo/Piazza Castello/Via Garibaldi

Lock Down The Twenty-Sixth Day

26th day, Saturday. The morning spring sun is warm and very pleasant. Is already April, looking at the almost empty and deserted street, yet can't really feel the joy of Spring.
Time to head to the pharmacy again.

There are two ways to go to the pharmacy from home, both ways are more or less the same distance.

Turn right will head towards the traffic road, which is wider and more straight forward, with bigger shops and has a more urban feel.
Turn left will leads through the narrow and small alleys, the buildings are quaint, shops and restaurants are more characteristic and unique.
Chose to go left.

Restaurants that were usually packed are now closed. Occasionally, one or two person passed by with their dog or with their grocery bags, the only shop which still opened is the bakery.

Out of the alleys, one reaches the Townhall, further down is the IV Marzo square which is surrounded by resturants and bars that are of course now closed. It does seem much larger without the tables and chairs placed outside by the resturants.

The liveliness and noises of the place have been replaced by moodiness and silent.
The heavy door of the cathedral beside the pharmacy is tightly closed.

 Location : via Mercanti/Piazza IV Marzo/Duomo/via XX Settembre

Lock Down The Eleventh Day

Day 11th. Had to get out of the house, needed to get some medicines at the pharmacy which is just in front of the Cathedral. So I put on my mask and gloves, then headed out.

Walked across IV Marzo Square, it was pretty deserted, this square is surrounded by restaurants and bars, so normally it is crowded and very lively. Despite being sunny and bright in the morning, it still felt rather depressing.

An old man approached and begged for some coins, he sounded like he was about to cry. Unfortunately I didn't have any extra to give him, so I had no choice but to walk away.

There was no other customer in the pahramcy, but still I had to wait for pharmacist to prepare my medicines.
While leaving, there were already some people queuing out the door for their turn.

In the afternoon, started immediately, outdoor activities such as running, jogging, cycling, ball playing etc are no more allowed in public places.

Location : Duomo/Piazza IV Marzo

The situation, the photos all seem surreal, it all becomes more real when someone you know became a victim.

For Elvira...RIP

Archaeological Park

The Palatine Gate (Italian: Porta Palatina or Porte Palatine; Piedmontese: Tor Roman-e) is a Roman Age city gate located in Turin, Italy. The gate provided access through the city walls of Julia Augusta Taurinorum (modern Turin) from the North side and, as a result, it constituted the Porta Principalis Dextra (Right-Side Main Gate) of the old town. 
 

The Palatine Gate represents the primary archaeological evidence of the city's Roman phase, and is one of the best preserved 1st-century BC Roman gateways in the world. Together with the ancient theatre's remains, located a short distance away, it is part of the so-called Archaeological Park, opened in 2006.

The park is now became mainly a dog park where people bring their dogs here to play and to socialise with other dogs.
There is a small higher ground at the end of the park and from there you can have a view of the cathedral, its bell tower and the museum Galleria Sabauda.

Location : Parco Archeologico

Under Different Lights

After 21 years of restoration, the cupola of the Duomo of Turin has finally reopened to pubblic viewing.
It was damaged by fire in 1997, progress of the restoration was extremely slow, explanation is that the original materials were hard to find and replace.

On the night of the re-opening, the cupola was shown in different colored lights. Personally, I found it beautiful, but some other people thought that it was horrible....

Reflection Of The Cathedral

After a short rain, enough water was accumlated on the as usual uneven ground of the road in front of the Duomo, just good enough to make a photo of the reflection of this cathedral with its recently repaired Cupola.

Metal Tower

They are finally starting to finish the reconstruction work on the cupola of the cathedral of the Duomo after the fire twenty years ago....
At the same time, they started to renovate the bell tower ....

Amost, almost I prefer this futuristic look of the ancient tower...

Beauty And The Beast

Standing in front of the more than 500 years old Turin Cathedral is a red brick office building, the "Palazzaccio " .

The block of concret and metal building fully in contrast with the holy and elegant Cathedral, that is why it is often cosidered as a sore in the eyes for the locals.