The postcard view
Mole, city and Alps in one frame.
GJo — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Benjamin Smith — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Benjamin Smith — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Mongolo1984 — CC BY-SA 4.0
On the Capuchin knoll above the Po's right bank stands a small church with a king's view: the standard Turin picture the photographs know — the Mole soaring, the city a carpet, the Alps the horizon's chain — all from the friary's free terrace, fifteen gentle minutes up from the Vittorio Emanuele I bridge. The Capuchin church (1611) is simply beautiful as its order, friars still resident — and the shaded winding climb belongs first to sunset lovers and photo couples: the nearest, calmest stand-in for Superga when time runs short. Make it the finale of the great Piazza Vittorio and Po-bank walk: river, bridge, knoll — half an hour making the Turin image that travels home with you.
Mole, city and Alps in one frame.
A simple working friary above the city's hum.
Salita Cappuccini, 10131 Turin
National Mountain Museum (Duca degli Abruzzi)In August 1874 the city of Turin, at the proposal of the Italian Alpine Club's T1 minute walk4.3
Piazza Vittorio VenetoA large square east of central Turin ending at the river Po, among the largest a8 minutes walk4.6
Accorsi-Ometto Museum of Decorative ArtsIn the room that carries his name stands a bureau made by Pietro Piffetti in 17310 minutes walk4.6
Villa della ReginaA royal villa with a vineyard inside the city: Villa della Regina stands on the 10 minutes walk4.3
Regional Museum of Natural SciencesIn the middle of the hall stands a stuffed Indian elephant called Fritz, who arr11 minutes walk4.3Two registers: Cappuccini is nearness and intimacy — the city in detail, the Mole your neighbour; Superga height and epic — Turin as map, the Alps entire. With an hour take the first; with half a day the second; perfection is known.
Piazza Vittorio Veneto — Europe's largest arcaded square — then Napoleon's stone bridge, then the knoll's windings: Turin's loveliest twenty minutes on foot, the square's cafés earning the return.