Polo del '900
The Polo del '900 is Turin's cultural centre that brings together, in a single location, archives, libraries and institutes devoted to the history of the twentieth century; it was founded on 22 April 2016, promoted by the Compagnia di San Paolo, the City and the Region.[1][2]
The site
It occupies the Quartieri militari, the San Celso and San Daniele buildings on the corner of corso Valdocco and via del Carmine, designed by Filippo Juvarra for Vittorio Amedeo II and built between 1716 and 1728 as barracks at the western edge of the city; in 1768 Ignazio Birago di Borgaro added the attic floor.[3][4] Palazzo San Celso was restored in 2003, and San Daniele with seven million euros from the Compagnia di San Paolo; the former houses the reading rooms and, in the basement, the Museo diffuso, while the latter contains the auditorium, the Voltoni gallery, the library and the archives.[4][1][5]
The collections
At its founding the Polo brought together nine kilometres of documents, 300,000 books, 130,000 photographs, 53,000 audiovisual items and 21,000 posters; the participating institutions, nineteen in 2016, now number 26 or 27 depending on the source.[1][2][6] On 2 August 2023 it was visited by the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella.[7]
The Museo diffuso
The Museo diffuso della Resistenza, della Deportazione, della Guerra, dei Diritti e della Libertà was inaugurated on 30 May 2003 at Palazzo San Celso; its permanent exhibition, «Torino 1938-1948. Dalle leggi razziali alla Costituzione», includes an air-raid shelter.[8][9][5] The museum oversees the stolpersteine project in Turin, and since 2009 the building has also housed the Centro internazionale di studi Primo Levi.[10][8]
Ten years on
For its tenth anniversary the City renewed the lease on the two buildings, and for the 2026-2028 three-year period the Polo has chosen the theme of "power", linked to the eightieth anniversary of the Republic and the fiftieth anniversary of the Red Brigades trial in Turin.[11][6]
Pages linking here
Sources
- ANSA — 22 April 2016
- Polo del '900
- MuseoTorino
- MuseoTorino
- Polo del '900
- Torino Oggi — 6 March 2026
- Città di Torino, CittAgorà — 2 August 2023
- Museo Diffuso della Resistenza
- MuseoTorino
- Museo Diffuso della Resistenza
- Torino Oggi — 14 January 2026