Palazzo Civico of Turin
The Palazzo Civico, the historic Palazzo di Città, is the seat of the mayor and the main bodies of the City of Turin, at Piazza Palazzo di Città 1.[2] The City has had a seat in this area since 1472, when it acquired the «domus comunis Taurini»; the present building was constructed between 1659 and 1663 to a design by the ducal architect Francesco Lanfranchi.[1][3]
The building
Lanfranchi aligned the new building with the «strada nova» opened in 1619. In 1714-1718 the Insinuazione wing was built; from 1756 Benedetto Alfieri redesigned the square with arcades on paired pillars and shops, and in 1758 he added the Council Hall to the building, hung with crimson velvet; the expansion to cover the whole San Massimo block was completed in 1788.[3][4][1] After a fire in 1817, Lorenzo and Gaetano Lombardi designed the grand staircase and the reception rooms, and in 1818 Giuseppe Maria Talucchi raised the central block to house a library.[3]
Since 1848 the Sala Rossa has been the permanent seat of the City Council's sittings; the large central canvas, «Ego Sapientia habito in Consilio», is perhaps attributed to Giovanni Andrea Casella, inspired by Emanuele Tesauro.[1] Among the other state rooms are the Sala delle Colonne, dating from Lanfranchi's time, the Sala Marmi, the Sala delle Congregazioni, which holds a copy of Gastaldi's «Pietro Micca» from 1858, the Sala Musy, with paintings by Delleani, and the Sala Carpanini, renovated in spring 2026.[5]
The square and the Conte Verde
The square, formerly known as Piazza delle Erbe e del Grano, was the most important square of the medieval city.[4] At its centre stands the monument to the Conte Verde, Amedeo VI di Savoia, by Pelagio Palagi: the statue dates to 1847 and was solemnly unveiled in 1853, depicting the count in battle against the Turks.[6] The square was repaved and the monument restored in 1995.[4]
The war
The bombing raids of 30 November 1942 and 13 July 1943 destroyed the part of the building facing Via Bellezia and Via Garibaldi.[3] Beneath the courtyard, at a depth of about ten metres, an air-raid shelter from the 1940s has been preserved, a tunnel some twenty metres long built for fifty employees, open to the public since April 2015.[7]
Today
In October 2023, to mark 360 years since the completion of Lanfranchi's work, the building opened its state rooms with FAI; according to the Speaker of the City Council, Maria Grazia Grippo, it receives about 7,000 visitors a year.[8] Since January 2025 the «Palazzo Civico on screen» trail, featuring six multimedia totems, has told the story of the films shot in the building, from «Il Divo» to the second season of «La legge di Lidia Poët»; by February, visits were booked out until autumn.[9][10]
Related articles: Pelagio Palagi
Pages linking here
Sources
- Città di Torino — 23 October 2025
- Città di Torino — 22 October 2025
- MuseoTorino
- MuseoTorino
- Città di Torino — 9 June 2026
- MuseoTorino
- MuseoTorino
- Torino Oggi — 11 October 2023
- Torino Oggi — 23 December 2024
- Città di Torino — 20 February 2025