Caffè San Carlo
The Caffè San Carlo is a historic café at 156 Piazza San Carlo, on the corner of Via Santa Teresa, in the seventeenth-century palazzo of the Turinetti di Priero; founded in the early nineteenth century as the Caffè di Piazza d'Armi, it was among the first cafés in Turin to have exterior decorations and gas lighting.[1][2]
Origins
Historical accounts date its opening to 1822, while MuseoTorino finds the first archival records in 1828, when the manager Michele Ducco requested an extension of closing hours.[3][1] A meeting place for patriots and intellectuals of the Risorgimento, as opposed to the conservatives' Fiorio, it was closed in 1837 for "subversive activity" and reopened a few months later as Caffè Vassallo, under the obligation to steer clear of politics and gambling.[4][1]
The Rooms
In 1839 the Lugano-born architect Giuseppe Leoni designed the Greek temple-style façade with paired Doric columns, and from 1840 the central hall was decorated with gilded pilasters and Corinthian capitals; in 1851 Pietro Spinzi and Giacomo Beltrami painted the small room known as the "Chinese cabinet."[1] Closed from 1883 to 1893, it reopened in 1894 with a concert hall, a Moorish room and a winter veranda, all now gone.[1] Among its patrons, MuseoTorino recalls Cavour, D'Azeglio, Alexandre Dumas père, Giolitti, Einaudi and the Sei di Torino; here the Duke of the Abruzzi and Admiral Cagni planned the polar expedition of the Stella Polare.[1]
War and Reconstruction
In 1942 an incendiary bomb fragment devastated the café; restoration and partial reconstruction began in 1953 and lasted ten years, and the nineteenth-century façade was demolished; around 1960 an eighteen-armed Murano glass chandelier was hung inside.[1]
Closure and Reopening
In November 2020 the café closed; the premises belong to Intesa Sanpaolo, which began renovation works there.[3] On 20 December 2022 it reopened as a dining space of the Gallerie d'Italia, run by the Costardi brothers, with seating for 120; in early 2023 the restaurant "Scatto" was added, entering the Michelin Guide in October 2023.[5][6] In Gambero Rosso's Bar d'Italia 2025 guide the café received the highest rating.[7]
Pages linking here
Sources
- MuseoTorino
- Comunicaffè — 12 September 2022
- TorinoToday — 15 November 2020
- Comunicaffè — 17 November 2020
- TorinoToday — 19 December 2022
- Guida MICHELIN — 18 October 2023
- Costardi Bros