Via Po

Via Po is the arcaded street that links Piazza Castello to Piazza Vittorio Veneto and the river from which it takes its name. Opened as part of the city's seventeenth-century expansion toward the Po, it is about 700 metres long and preserves historic palaces, churches, cafés and shops.^[1]^[3]

The expansion toward the Po

On 23 October 1673 Duke Carlo Emanuele II laid the first stone of the city's expansion toward the Po, an idea already envisioned by Carlo Emanuele I half a century earlier; the old "contrada di Po", also known as the "Regina Viarum", became its main artery.^[1]^[3] The project was entrusted to Count and architect Amedeo di Castellamonte: the street ran diagonally from the Castle to the river, breaking the city's orthogonal grid.^[1] The buildings had two main floors above arcades intended for commerce, and the façades were not completed until the eighteenth century.^[1]

The arcades

The continuous arcades of Via Po, created by a royal decree of 1673 as a work of Castellamonte, form a unified urban setting; across the whole city the arcaded walkways extend for more than twelve kilometres.^[2] The arcade on the left side runs almost uninterrupted all the way to the river, while the one on the right side is broken: according to Torino Oggi, it was Vittorio Emanuele I who wanted the left side kept continuous, so as to reach the Gran Madre church sheltered from rain and snow.^[3] In 1737 the street was illuminated for the wedding of Carlo Emanuele III to Elisabetta Teresa of Lorraine.^[1] The bombings of 8 December 1942 and 13 July 1943 struck the street and damaged its arcades.^[1]

Buildings and shops

At number 17 stands the building of the University, designed by Michelangelo Garove, completed by Antonio Ricca after Garove's death in 1713 and inaugurated in 1720, with a wide arcade and a loggia adorned with statues and busts of sovereigns, academics, scientists and writers.^[4] In January 1821 the university was the scene of student demonstrations: after some arrests on the evening of 11 January, the students occupied the building the following day, and the clearing of the premises caused injuries and further arrests.^[4] The church of San Francesco da Paola, at number 16, was built in 1633-1634 by the Minim friars, summoned to Turin by Carlo Emanuele I in 1623; the façade dates from 1665-1667 and the church was consecrated in 1730.^[9]

The Caffè Fiorio, at number 8, opened around 1780; during the Restoration it was a meeting place for nobles and conservatives, so much so that it was nicknamed the "codini" café, and Carlo Alberto would open his audiences by asking, "What are they saying at the Caffè Fiorio?"^[5] Renovated in 1845 with red velvet sofas, mirrors and frescoes by Francesco Gonin and Giuseppe Bogliani, it counted Cavour, Cesare Balbo and Massimo d'Azeglio among its regulars; according to the City of Turin, it was the Fiorio that introduced the ice cream cone to Turin, in the 1930s.^[5]^[6] The Musy jewellery shop, at number 1, was founded in 1707 by the watchmaker Giacomo Musy, trained in Geneva; by 1765 it was supplier to the Royal House, and the family kept it until 2011.^[7] Among the street's historic shops, the City also lists the Bourlot antiquarian bookshop and the Ghigo pastry shop.^[8]

Toward the river the street opens onto Piazza Vittorio Veneto, the old Piazza di Po, designed by Giuseppe Frizzi in 1825 under Carlo Felice in neoclassical forms, aligned with the bridge over the Po and with the Gran Madre church.^[10]

Timeline

2 October 2026 — Satirical posters by Extinction Rebellion against the government appear under the arcades of Via Po in Turin, featuring caricatures of Giorgia Meloni, Donald Trump and Roberto Vannacci linked to a space rocket, part of a campaign that also appeared in other Italian cities after a defamation complaint was served on an activist from the movement. → TorinoToday Quotidiano Piemontese

Related articles: Caffè Fiorio

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