The Savoia Square is famous today for the imposing Baveno granite obelisk, 21 meters high, erected in 1853 in memory of the Siccardi laws of 1850. The idea of erecting a celebratory monument for the controversial laws of the Minister of Justice and Senator Count Giuseppe Siccardi (who abolished the ecclesiastical forum) was already in 1851, on the initiative of the Turin newspaper Gazzetta del Popolo. The obelisk was designed by the painter and sculptor Luigi Quarenghi and the supporters of the project (including the director of the Gazzetta del Popolo, Giovanni Battista Bottero) proposed to place it in Piazza Carignano. Not without bitter discussions with the Turin clergy, the Archbishop Luigi Fransoni, on 23 November 1853 the monument was inaugurated here, as one of the phrases engraved on the obelisk recalls:
«Abolished by Law IX April MDCCCL the ecclesiastical forum, people and municipality placed IV March MDCCCLIII»
(Epigraph on the monument)
The monument also contains the names of the 800 municipalities that enthusiastically supported the work, carved on all sides. On the day of the laying of the first stone, June 17, 1852, numbers 141 and 142 of the Gazzetta del Popolo, a copy of the Siccardi law, coins, rice seeds, breadsticks and a bottle of Barbera wine were walled in the base. Fruit of the anti-clerical ideology, it was deliberately placed in a square near the Sanctuary of the Consolata, seat of the main city devotion, and in Palazzo Barolo, where the Catholic Giulia Falletti of Barolo resided.
During the Second World War, fighting in the city streets threatened to knock down the obelisk: fighters stationed in Corso Siccardi, in the direction of Via Cernaia, fired a few mortar rounds in the direction of Piazza Savoia, damaging the monument and causing it to falter; remained standing, it was restored after the war.
A second restoration, in 1993, cleaned the surface and the wide staircase.
Location : Piazza Savoia
There are many squirrels in the Ruffini park situated in the San Paolo District, due to the smaller size of the park as compared to Valentino park, so the squirrels here are more concentrated in certain areas. That means spotting them is much easier.
However, the squirrels are less sociable and more caution, they won't grab food from your hands, they will just wait for you to throw the food to them.
Location : Parco Ruffini
The arcade around the town hall square is relatively short as compared to many other arcade in the center, but there are normally many informative banners hang under the arcade which makem it rather stand out.
Location : Piazza Palazzo Di CittÃ
A mamma duck presents her 9 little ducklings to the public along Murazzi. I think they nest at the embarking point for the river cruise which is now closed down due to the sinking of the two cruise boats.
Their appearance created a little excitement for the people taking a walk along the river Po at Murazzi.
Location : Murazzi
The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), known colloquially as the Hare Krishna movement or Hare Krishnas, is a Gaudiya Vaishnava Hindu religious organisation. ISKCON was founded in 1966 in New York City by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. Its core beliefs are based on the Hindu scriptures, particularly the Bhagavad Gita and the Bhagavata Purana, and the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition, which has had adherents in India since the late 15th century and American and European devotees since the early 1900s.
The organization was formed to spread the practice of Bhakti yoga, the practice of love of God in which those involved (bhaktas) dedicate their thoughts and actions towards pleasing Krishna, the Supreme Lord.
Its most rapid expansions in membership as of 2007 have been within
India and especially after the collapse of the Soviet Union, in Russia,
Ukraine, and the rest of the ex-Soviet aligned states of Eastern Europe
and Central Asia. The organization is banned in Singapore.
In Italy, the organization is not banned, insteads, quite often, their followers can be seen cheerfully singing and dancing along the street. Just yesterday evening they were singing and dancing under the arcade along via Roma and in the San Federico galleria.
Location : Galleria San Federico
A usually rather crowded pizza restaurant in piazza Carlo Alberto, moments before customers begin to come by.
Tables are set, outdoor heatings are set, waiters are chatting between them, relaxing before the hectic evening begins.
Location : Piazza Carlo Alberto
Piazza Castello is a beautiful square, often people are too busy admiring the magnificent, majestic, glorious buildings such as the Royal Palace, the Madama Palace and the San Lorenzo Church and don't notice the graphic design of the pavement in the square.
In more or less the center of the square in front of the Royal palace and between the fountains there is a star, not sure what it represents or it is just simply a design, but it does make the square look better.
Location : Piazza Castello
