page_title: Turin
section_title: Crocetta
hierarchical_section_title: Turin / Main sites / Crocetta
caption_attribution_description: Boulevard Spina Centrale - Turin - Piedmont - Italy
context_page_description: Turin is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is located mainly on the western bank of the Po River, in front of Susa Valley, and is surrounded by the western Alpine arch and Superga Hill. The population of the city proper is 875,698 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat to be 1.7 million inhabitants. The Turin metropolitan area is estimated by the OECD to have a population of 2.2 million.
  The city used to be a major European political centre. From 1563, it was the capital of the Duchy of Savoy, then of the Kingdom of Sardinia ruled by the House of Savoy, and the first capital of the Kingdom of Italy from 1861 to 1865. Turin is sometimes called "the cradle of Italian liberty" for having been the birthplace and home of notable individuals who contributed to the Risorgimento, such as Cavour.
context_section_description: South of Centro stands the Crocetta district, considered one of the most exclusive districts of the city, because of highly rated residential buildings. At the heart of the district is the partially pedestrianised area crossed by Corso Trieste, Corso Trento and Corso Duca D'Aosta, plenty of some notable residential buildings in eclectic, neo-Gothic and Art Nouveau style. The area was built between 1903 and 1937 replacing the old parade ground, which was moved in the Southern part of the city.
  North of this area stands the GAM (Galleria d'Arte Moderna), one of the two Museum of Modern Arts of the Turin Metro area (the second and largest one is hosted in Castello di Rivoli, a former Savoy Royal castle in the suburbs). The Museum stands in front a huge monument situated in the centre of the roundabout between Corso Vittorio Emanuele II and Corso Galileo Ferraris: the Monument to Vittorio Emanuele II, a King of Savoy statue situated on a 39-meters high column. Next to the Museum, another significant residential building previously hosted the head office of Juventus, one of the two main Turin football clubs.
  West of this area, the main building of Polytechnic University of Turin stands along Corso Duca Degli Abruzzi. The 1958 building, a 122,000-square-metre (1,313,197-square-foot) complex, hosts approximately 30,000 students and is considered one of the major Institutes of Technology of the country – mainly due to the vocation of the city for the industrialisation, pushed by the automotive sector. This institute recently expanded in the western district of Cenisia with additional modern buildings.
  Crocetta is crossed by large and modern avenues, such as Corso Duca degli Abruzzi, Corso Galileo Ferraris, and Corso Einaudi. These avenues feature long rows of trees, symbolic of Turin's typical urbanity. However, the most popular avenue is Corso De Gasperi, which, albeit smaller than other avenues of the district, hosts one of the most fashionable open markets of the city, the so-called Mercato della Crocetta, in which it is possible to find some discounted branded clothing among the more popular ones.
  The Western border of Crocetta is instead an example of contemporary architecture. The huge avenue, made up of Corso Mediterraneo and Corso Castelfidardo, is part of Spina Centrale boulevard and was recently built over the old railway (now undergrounded): as a result, the avenue is very large (up to 60 metres (200 feet)) and modern, having been rebuilt with valuable materials, including a characteristic lighting system supported by white high poles. This avenue hosts some examples of contemporary art, such as Mario Merz's Igloo fountain or the Per Kirkeby's Opera per Torino monument in Largo Orbassano.
  The East side of the district is also known as Borgo San Secondo and was so named after the church of the same name standing in Via San Secondo, a major street in the neighbourhood. This area is located near Porta Nuova railway station and is actually older than the rest of the district, featuring several apartment buildings from the late 19th century, to include the birthplace and home of author Primo Levi on Corso Re Umberto. A local open market is held in Piazza San Secondo and along Via Legnano. The market square also hosts the former washhouse and public baths of the neighbourhood, among the oldest examples of their kind in Turin (1905).
  One of the main thoroughfares crossing Borgo San Secondo is Via Sacchi, which serves as an ideal gate to the city centre: its Serlian arcades on the west side of the street (the east side is enclosed by Porta Nuova railway station service buildings) host some significant boutiques and hotels, such as the historic Pfatisch pastry shop and the Turin Palace Hotel (totally refurbished and reopened in 2015). South of Via Sacchi, Ospedale Mauriziano is one of the ancient and major hospitals of the city. Going further southwards, it is possible to appreciate an interesting residential cluster of old public housing gravitating around Via Arquata.
caption: The Spina Centrale is a new under-construction boulevard built over the undergrounded railway. It is already completed in Crocetta.
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