scubish.com: Scuba diving Torino - Italy

Turin (Torino; Piedmontese: Turin pronunce Tr-ìn) is a major industrial city as well as a business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the west bank of the Po River. The population of the city of Turin is 908,000 (2004 census); its agglomeration totals about 1.7 million inhabitants, while its metropolitan area has a population of 2,2 million of inhabitants (according to the OECD ). The province is one of the largest in Italy, with 6,830 km² (2,637 sq mi), and one of the most populous, with 2,236,941 inhabitants at the 2001 census. Turin is well-known as the home of the Shroud of Turin, one of Italy's biggest football clubs Juventus FC, headquarters of Fiat automobile manufacturer and host of the 2006 Winter Olympics. It was the first capital of Italy.

History

The name of Turin comes from Tau, a Celtic word that means mountains. Its Italian name, Torino, translates as "little bull"; hence the coat of arms and the symbol of the city. The area was settled by the Taurini in pre-Roman times.

In the first century BC (probably 28 BC), the Romans created a military camp (Castra Taurinorum), later dedicated to Augustus (Augusta Taurinorum). The typical Roman street grid can still be seen in the modern city. Turin reached about 5,000 inhabitants at the time, all living inside the high walls.

After the fall of the Roman empire the city was conquered by the Lombards, then the Franks of Charlemagne (773); in the 940s the March of Turin (or countship) was founded, until 1050 held by the Arudinic dynasty and then, after the marriage of Adelaide of Susa with Humbert Biancamano's son Otto, by the family of the Counts of Savoy. While the dignity of count was held by the Bishop as count of Turin (1092-1130 and 1136-1191) it was ruled as a prince-bishopric by the Bishops. In 1230-1235 it was a lordship under the Marquess of Montferrat, styled Lord of Turin.

At the end of the thirteenth century, when it was annexed to the Duchy of Savoy, the city already had 20,000 inhabitants. Many of the gardens and palaces were built in the fifteenth century when the city was redesigned. The University was also founded during this period.

Emanuele Filiberto (Iron Head) made Turin the capital of the Duchy of Savoy in 1563. Piazza Reale, today named Piazza San Carlo and Via Nuova, today called Via Roma were added with the first enalrgement of the walls, in the first half hof the XVII century; in the same period the Royal palace (Palazzo Reale) was built. In the second half of that century, a second enlargement of the walls was planned and executed, with the building of the arcaded Via Po, connecting diagonally through the regular street grid Piazza Castello with the bridge on the Po.

In 1706, during the Battle of Turin, the French besieged the city for 117 days without conquering it. After the subsequent Treaty of Utrecht, the Kingdom of Sardinia was annexed to the Duchy of Savoy...