Campidoglio (Turin)
The Campidoglio is a district of Turin in Circoscrizione 4, born in the second half of the nineteenth century just outside the 1853 customs wall as a neighbourhood of craftsmen and, above all, workers; it is known for the Museo d'Arte Urbana, which has turned it into an open-air gallery of murals.[1][2]
The district
Around 1880 the district developed out of a private subdivision plan, with narrow grid-pattern streets and two- or three-storey houses with vegetable gardens; the name perhaps comes precisely from this layout, which recalled ancient Rome.[1][3] In 1887, when the radial streets were extended beyond the customs wall, Campidoglio and Molinette were the two largest outlying districts; the area was included in the 1898 city plan, ratified in 1901, with streets only six metres wide.[3] The customs wall was demolished in 1911-1912, and in 1919 Piazza Moncenisio was laid out.[1]
The Borgo Vecchio, between Corso Svizzera, Corso Appio Claudio, Corso Tassoni, Via Fabrizi and Via Cibrario, escaped the demolitions of the 1959 city plan and still has the look of a "village within the city", with its "ciabòt", small one- or two-storey houses.[2][3] The redevelopment of the district began in 1994, and the air-raid shelter in Piazza Risorgimento was restored as part of it.[1] At Via Pilo 6 stands the former Astra theatre-cinema, with its Art Déco façade by Contardo Bonicelli dating from 1929-1930, today belonging to the Fondazione TPE.[4]
The Martinetto
At the Martinetto shooting range, on the corner of Corso Svizzera and Corso Appio Claudio, 61 people sentenced to death were shot during the Second World War, including, in April 1944, the entire military committee of the Turin Resistance; today the Sacrario del Martinetto memorial stands there.[4]
The Museo d'Arte Urbana
The MAU was founded in 1995 on the initiative of local residents: between 1995 and 2017 it produced 123 murals and 35 installations by 99 artists; since 30 March 2014 it has been based at Via Rocciamelone 7/A.[2] On 12 April 2011 the City Council recognised it as a city museum institution, and between 2010 and 2014 the benches in Piazza Moncenisio were decorated.[2] The City of Turin lists more than a hundred murals, while Torino Oggi reported more than two hundred permanent works in 2026; the guided tours "Una domenica al MAU" set off every fourth Sunday of the month from the churchyard of Sant'Alfonso.[5][6]
Related articles: San Donato (Turin)