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San Salvario

San Salvario is the district of Turin bounded by corso Vittorio Emanuele II, via Nizza, corso Bramante and the Po. It takes its name from a church and a convent that once stood at the junction of today's via Nizza and corso Marconi.[1] It is home to the Parco del Valentino, the Synagogue and the Waldensian Temple, and is known for its multi-ethnic character and its nightlife.[1][3][4]

The birth of the district

Until the mid-nineteenth century the area south of viale del Re was sparsely built up, home mainly to the convent of San Salvario and the Castello del Valentino. Between the 1860s and the 1890s it was laid out as a regular grid of rental housing, along the axes of corso Massimo d'Azeglio, via Madama Cristina and via Nizza, crossed by corso Marconi, corso Raffaello and corso Dante.[2] In 1880 Edmondo De Amicis described the area near the station as a small workers' town; Fiat had its first headquarters on corso Dante.[2]

The Castello del Valentino, acquired by Emanuele Filiberto in 1564 and rebuilt from 1620 for Cristina di Francia first by Carlo and then by Amedeo di Castellamonte, today houses the Architecture department of the Politecnico.[5] Between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries the district hosted two world's fairs, of which the Borgo Medievale and the Torino Esposizioni complex remain; the district's markets are held in piazza Madama Cristina and on corso Raffaello.[1]

The Synagogue and the Waldensian Temple

The Waldensian Temple, at corso Vittorio Emanuele II 23, followed the Letters Patent of 17 February 1848, by which Carlo Alberto granted the Waldensians full civil and political rights: designed by Luigi Formento, it was begun on 29 October 1851 and inaugurated on 15 December 1853, with the support of the banker Joseph Malan and the English general Charles Beckwith.[3]

The Synagogue, at piazzetta Primo Levi 12, came about through an exchange: in 1875 the Jewish community ceded to the City the unfinished building designed by Antonelli, the future Mole, and received in return a plot of land in San Salvario for a more modest temple. Designed by Enrico Petiti, winner of the 1880 competition, it was inaugurated in 1884 in Moorish style, with four domed towers.[4] Incendiary bombs on 20 November 1942 destroyed it; it was rebuilt between 1945 and 1949, and on 22 December 1970 the underground "Small Temple" was inaugurated, furnished with eighteenth-century fittings from the synagogue of Chieri.[4]

Since the 1990s

In the 1990s San Salvario became one of the first destinations for immigration to Turin; since 1996 its redevelopment has been supported by the San Salvario Local Development Agency, which brings together about twenty associations.[6] Since the late 1990s the district's nightlife scene has grown, with multi-ethnic venues, pubs and restaurants.[1] On 11 March 2021 the Turin Court ordered the City to compensate 29 residents for damages caused by night-time noise, awarding 500 euros per month per person for the period from 2013 to 2020; the City Council recognized an off-budget debt of 1,243,854 euros.[7][8]

From 27 January to 30 April 2025 the prefecture established in San Salvario, as in Barriera di Milano, a "red zone" against drug dealing and crime.[9] The Casa del Quartiere on via Morgari 14, opened in 2010, will host the fourth edition of the 8 Ambiente Festival in 2026.[10]

Related articles: Borgo Po, Castello del Valentino, Christine of France

Pages linking here

Sources

  1. MuseoTorino
  2. MuseoTorino
  3. MuseoTorino
  4. MuseoTorino
  5. MuseoTorino
  6. MuseoTorino
  7. Città di Torino, Cittagorà — 29 November 2021
  8. Torino Oggi — 24 September 2021
  9. Torino Oggi — 23 January 2025
  10. Torino Oggi — 25 September 2026

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