Study Tour - Turin, April 2019

During Spring Block III, our students visited Turin, a city perhaps not so famous abroad, but with more than 2000 years of history. It is the fourth Italian city by population, one of the major artistic, touristic, scientific and cultural centers of Italy, and it includes - in its territory - palaces, residences and natural reserves listed as UNESCO World Heritage sites. Turin was also the first capital city of Italy in 1861, although only for a few years.

Turin hosts the oldest Egyptian museum in the world, the second oldest after The Museum of Cairo (Egypt). In its numerous halls, the Museo Egizio houses wonderfully preserved tombs, sarcophagi and statues of Egyptian gods. We thoroughly enjoyed this unique and appealing experience on our first day!

On the second day of our visit we took part in a cooking class, where we had the opportunity to prepare three different types of homemade pasta, as per Italian tradition! Tortelli, ravioli and orecchiette, which we then savoured at the end of the lesson! Yummy!

One of the most enjoyable experiences Turin has to offer is the visit to the Mole Antonelliana, a late 19th century building that has become the symbol of the city and now houses the Museo Nazionale del Cinema (National Cinema Museum). Inside the museum there is also a panoramic elevator with transparent glass walls, that cover its 75 meters ride in 59 seconds, in the single open space span of the building, without middle floors, up to the "small temple" which gives a 360 degrees panoramic view of the city. This impressive building gives life to a spectacular presentation of its collections, which retrace the history of cinema from its origins to present day.

The city also offers much, much more: Valentino Park, Piazza Castello, the Savoy Residences, the Duomo and the Chapel of the Holy Shroud.

If you are planning a visit to Italy, be sure to include Turin to your itinerary!