Description
Via Pietro Micca is the arcaded street that cuts diagonally through the old center of Turin, from Piazza Castello to Piazza Solferino. Turin residents call it the "Diagonale": one of the first streets to break the Roman grid, with eclectic buildings, arcades and shops.
Turin has been a chessboard since Roman times: straight streets, right-angled crossings. Between Piazza Castello and Piazza Solferino, however, there was a medieval tangle of houses without air or light, and to clean it up the city decided to lay out an oblique street. The commission that studied it included Alessandro Antonelli.
The idea was that a diagonal would shorten distances and enliven the monotony of the grid. It was designed in 1885, work began in 1886 and the street opened in May 1897. It cost the city over six million lire, and the renewal of the old Quadrilatero continued in the nearby streets until the 1930s.
The buildings on the north side, with their arcades, were conceived for luxury homes and shops. The architects were Carlo Ceppi, Silvio Scacchetti, Giuseppe Tonta and Costantino Gilodi, who designed the ends on Piazza Castello and Piazza Solferino.
At the corner with Via San Tommaso is Palazzo Bellia, designed by Carlo Ceppi: one of the finest examples of eclecticism in Turin. On its building site reinforced-concrete beams were used for the first time in the city, in 1894-95.
The church of San Tommaso, from 1584, was in the way of the new street. There was talk of tearing it down, but Carlo Ceppi objected, and in the end the city decided to set the façade back by eight meters.
At the western end, where the street meets Via Botero and Piazza Solferino, is Palazzo Fiorina, a reddish three-story apartment building with rich decoration between Liberty and late Baroque and arcades with neoclassical capitals. It was home to the hotel of the same name.
Under the arcades the historic Slavia bookshop was born, founded by Alfredo Polledro, a meeting place for writers such as Edmondo De Amicis, Zino Zini and Piero Gobetti. De Amicis lived at number 10 on the street in his last years.
At the corner with Via Botero stood the Voigt beer hall, where Torino Football Club was founded in 1906. On the opposite side a neo-Baroque building by Gilodi was destroyed by the bombing of the Second World War and replaced by the Torre Solferino.
The street is also the stage for the city's great events: it has hosted parades and costume processions for the bicentenary and tricentenary of the 1706 siege, and the parades of Gianduja and Giacometta for the feast of San Giovanni.
Don't miss
• The arcades on the north side.
• Palazzo Bellia.
• The church of San Tommaso.
• Palazzo Fiorina.
Did you know?
• The street is named after Pietro Micca, the miner-soldier of the siege of Turin in 1706.
• Turin immediately adopted the "Law for Naples" of 1885, which made it easier to renew run-down historic centers.
Turin has been a chessboard since Roman times: straight streets, right-angled crossings. Between Piazza Castello and Piazza Solferino, however, there was a medieval tangle of houses without air or light, and to clean it up the city decided to lay out an oblique street. The commission that studied it included Alessandro Antonelli.
The idea was that a diagonal would shorten distances and enliven the monotony of the grid. It was designed in 1885, work began in 1886 and the street opened in May 1897. It cost the city over six million lire, and the renewal of the old Quadrilatero continued in the nearby streets until the 1930s.
The buildings on the north side, with their arcades, were conceived for luxury homes and shops. The architects were Carlo Ceppi, Silvio Scacchetti, Giuseppe Tonta and Costantino Gilodi, who designed the ends on Piazza Castello and Piazza Solferino.
At the corner with Via San Tommaso is Palazzo Bellia, designed by Carlo Ceppi: one of the finest examples of eclecticism in Turin. On its building site reinforced-concrete beams were used for the first time in the city, in 1894-95.
The church of San Tommaso, from 1584, was in the way of the new street. There was talk of tearing it down, but Carlo Ceppi objected, and in the end the city decided to set the façade back by eight meters.
At the western end, where the street meets Via Botero and Piazza Solferino, is Palazzo Fiorina, a reddish three-story apartment building with rich decoration between Liberty and late Baroque and arcades with neoclassical capitals. It was home to the hotel of the same name.
Under the arcades the historic Slavia bookshop was born, founded by Alfredo Polledro, a meeting place for writers such as Edmondo De Amicis, Zino Zini and Piero Gobetti. De Amicis lived at number 10 on the street in his last years.
At the corner with Via Botero stood the Voigt beer hall, where Torino Football Club was founded in 1906. On the opposite side a neo-Baroque building by Gilodi was destroyed by the bombing of the Second World War and replaced by the Torre Solferino.
The street is also the stage for the city's great events: it has hosted parades and costume processions for the bicentenary and tricentenary of the 1706 siege, and the parades of Gianduja and Giacometta for the feast of San Giovanni.
Don't miss
• The arcades on the north side.
• Palazzo Bellia.
• The church of San Tommaso.
• Palazzo Fiorina.
Did you know?
• The street is named after Pietro Micca, the miner-soldier of the siege of Turin in 1706.
• Turin immediately adopted the "Law for Naples" of 1885, which made it easier to renew run-down historic centers.