Today is a special day for the Italians. The 2nd of June marks their national day, their equivalent of Australia Day. It is a public holiday and there are lots of celebrations happening.
We left Milan and hit the autostrade heading for Turin in the Piedmont region. Turin has an interesting history, when Garibaldi united the various regions to create modern Italy in 1861 Rome remained part of the Vatican until 1870 so between 1861 and 1870 Turin was the capital of Italy. Interestingly Italy was actually set up as a monarchy but after 1946 they held a referendum and it became a republic.
Turin has the original palace and lot of other really interesting buildings. There are the usual porticos but also cafes dating back to the 1800s that are still in business today.
We met our guide and headed over to the palace. This faces the main square of Milan and is quite impressive. It is now a museum but you can visit the throne room and other rooms plus they have a very big armoury showing various weapons up until about WW1.
Turin is known for the Shroud of Turin and while there are questions about its authenticity it is still a revered artefact. It used to be stored in a chapel attached to the palace but is now stored in a smaller chapel in Turin. They bring it out for public display every 25 years and next year it will be on display again.
After the palace we went out to the square again and in a very nondescript building we found one of the most interesting churches we have visited to date (and let’s face it if you come to Italy you are going to visit a lot of churches!). This was the Church of San Lorenzo, see the photos.
Like many other churches this one is designed around the sun and every equinox the sun shines through a number of holes and lights up various alcoves in the church, very clever.
After the chapel we had some lunch and walked around town.
After Turin we headed for our accommodation for the night in the village of Guarene in the hills south of Turin. We are a bit off the beaten track but we are here for a couple of nights. It is a cute little village and our hotel is very comfortable.
ItalyRuota44°43’51” N 8°3’9” E
ItalyRuota44°43’51” N 8°3’9” E