Piazza San Carlo

Why go

This square makes Turin’s Savoy-era city planning easy to see at a glance. The arcades frame a generous open space, while San Carlo and Santa Cristina provide an architectural comparison. It also works as a natural stop between Piazza Castello and Porta Nuova.

What to look for

• The equestrian statue of Emanuele Filiberto stands at the centre.
• Santa Cristina and San Carlo form the paired church fronts at the south end.
• Long arcades run along both sides of the open square.

The full story

Carlo di Castellamonte designed the square during Turin’s southward expansion in the seventeenth century. The long porticoes and broad rectangle expressed the ambitions of a Savoy capital and gave the new Via Roma axis an open civic room. The paired churches were not finished together: San Carlo’s building began in 1619, whereas Santa Cristina arose under Maria Cristina of France and later received a richly curved Juvarra facade. In the centre, Carlo Marochetti’s nineteenth-century equestrian monument shows Emanuele Filiberto sheathing his sword. The combination of buildings from different periods can look almost symmetrical from a distance. A slower circuit reveals the distinctions and helps explain why the square became a place for public gatherings as well as everyday passage. Its arcades also make the space a sheltered part of a longer walk.

Useful to know

• Approach along Via Roma, then cross the square to compare the two church facades up close.
• Combine the square with the distinct church interiors only after checking their current access.

Your next visit

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