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Piazza Carlo Emanuele II

Piazza Carlo Emanuele II, known to Torinese as «piazza Carlina», is a square in central Turin that arose with the expansion toward the Po; Amedeo di Castellamonte designed it as an octagon, on the model of the places royales, for Carlo Emanuele II, but it was actually built during the regency of Maria Giovanna Battista di Savoia-Nemours (1675-1684).[1]

From octagon to square

The octagonal design of 1674 was abandoned: already the regent's edict of 1678 reduced the square to a «quadrilateral shape».[2] Rather than hosting luxury residences, it was home to specialized markets, including the wine market, and as late as 1938 the square was still occupied by market stalls.[1][3] In 1679 the regent established the Jewish ghetto there, in the streets around the square, later enlarged in 1724 with the San Benedetto block.[4]

The palaces

Overlooking the square are Palazzo Roero di Guarene, with a façade designed by Filippo Juvarra in 1730, and Palazzo Coardi di Carpeneto, attributed to Amedeo di Castellamonte; both were struck by the bombings of 1942-1943.[5][3] The church of Santa Croce, by Juvarra (1718-1732), was built within the convent of the Lateran Canonesses and today serves as a Romanian Orthodox parish.[2] The Albergo di Virtù, a charitable institution founded by the Compagnia di San Paolo in 1580, was located on the square from about 1682 to 1890; Antonio Gramsci lived in the building from 1914 to 1922.[6][7] Since June 2022, a room in the hotel that now occupies the site has housed «Casa Gramsci», a work by Alfredo Jaar.[8]

The monument to Cavour

At the center stands the monument to Cavour by Giovanni Duprè: the fundraising subscription was decided on 8 June 1861, 124 designs were submitted for the 1863 competition, and in 1865 Duprè's model was chosen; it was unveiled in the rain on 8 November 1873 in the presence of Vittorio Emanuele II, and the Torinese nicknamed it «the paperweight».[9] In July 2026 the City of Turin repaved the porphyry of the eastern carriageway.[10]

Related articles: Camillo Benso di Cavour

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Sources

  1. MuseoTorino
  2. MuseoTorino
  3. MuseoTorino
  4. MuseoTorino
  5. MuseoTorino
  6. MuseoTorino
  7. La Nuova Sardegna — 7 April 2014
  8. Artribune —
  9. MuseoTorino
  10. Torino Oggi — 28 July 2026

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