Turin
If you think of Turin only as the large industrial city which is home to Juventus and Fiat motors, or as the grid-locked location for 1969 Michael Caine crime caper The Italian Job, then you’re in for a pleasant surprise.
Established as the capital of the Savoy territories in France and northern Italy in the 16th century and, briefly, of a newly-unified Italy in the 19th, Turin still looks and feels like a capital city, despite having fallen some way behind Rome and Milan in terms of wealth and influence.
Wide avenues are flanked by austerely elegant palazzi and grand piazzas framed by ornate Baroque public buildings.
The city’s tourist attractions include the lavish Palazzo Reale, built for the Savoy king Carlo Emanuele II in 1646; the biggest Egyptian museum outside Cairo; the cathedral that houses the Shroud of Turin, which is either the image of Jesus or a very clever fake; the museum of cinema underneath the iconic Mole Antonelliana in the city centre; and the Automobile Museum, which is well worth a visit, even for non-petrolheads.
There is also much that’s new and cutting- edge about the city, from its underground electronic dance music scene – the Piedmont Groove – to the work of contemporary artists in private galleries like Maze or the brand new Merz Foundation.
But even if you wanted to, there’s really no escaping the Old Lady. With almost 30 league titles and an estimated 10 million supporters in Italy alone, Juventus – despite the scandal of recent seasons - tower over Italian football in a way that has no equivalent in Britain.
To get even close, you would have to imagine Manchester United and Liverpool combined – Juventus are simply addicted to success.
City rivals Torino won promotion to Serie A in 2004 after two years in Serie B, but Turin was denied its passionate derby when Torino were demoted again by the Italian FA because of their enormous debts. They finally managed a return the following campaign.
Despite not winning the title since 1976, Torino remain one of Italy’s best-loved clubs. The ‘Grande Torino’ which won five successive scudetti in the 1940s is considered by many to be the finest team the country ever produced, but the entire side was tragically wiped out on May 4 1949, when the plane bringing them back from a friendly match in Portugal hit the hillside of Superga, just outside the city.
In recent years the local council has tried to reclaim the city centre for pedestrians, making it a far more enjoyable place to wander around.
The area known as the quadrilatero, around Via Garibaldi, has become the place to hang, shop, drink and eat, while the murazzi, an arcaded strip by the River Po, is home to a row of clubs which cater for all tastes, from reggae to grunge.
Turin became the focal point of the whole of Italy for reasons other than Juve when it hosted the Winter Olympics & Paralympics in February 2006 but, although skiing and associated winter activities remain popular, football is without question paramount.