TURIN, a large city of Italy, and capital of the kingdom of Sardinia. It is situated on a fine plain on the western banks of the l'o, at the conflux of that river with the Grand Doria, and about seven miles from the foot of the Cottian Alps. The ap proach to the town is magnificent, through a beau tiful country, filled with villas and gardens. The town is of an oblcng form, and is about four miles in circuit, including the ramparts. The streets in the new town are wide, clean, and straight, run ning generally in direct lines, and intersecting one another at right angles, so as to divide the town into 145 parts or squares. Arcades or piazzas are common in many of them. The houses are of brick stuccoed, and the streets often terminate with some agreeable object. The best streets are the Strada di Po, extending to the river from the great central square, the Contrada di Dora Grande, extending 500 fathoms in length, from that same square in the opposite direction, the Via Nuova, and the Sta Theresa. The principal or central square, called the Piazza Reale, is one of the finest in Europe. In the centre is the Castello Reale, built by the Duke of Savoy; on one side is the Royal Palace, containing splendid furniture and fine paintings, and the other three sides are occu pied with houses having arcades. The Piazza (le St. Carlo is on a smaller scale, but preferred by some as handsomer than the Piazza Reale. The facades are uniform, and its two larger sides have arcades supported by pillars. There arc other eight squares in the town. The old town of Turin forms only a sixth of the city, but the streets, though narrow and less elegant than those of the new town, are in general straight and contain many good houses. The cathedral is an old Gothic building, with a marble cupola, and with several valuable articles in its treasury. The church of St. Suaire is the finest in the town; that of St. Laurent is celebrated for its bold cupola. The church of St. Croix has a fine rotunda. The church of St. Philippe de Neri is very beautiful. That of St. Cristine contains the fine statue of St. Therese, a chef d'ouvre of Legros. In the church of St. The rese, the chapel of St. Joseph is ornamented with the fine pictures of Corrado. The other churches are those of the Visitation and Conception, Conso lata, St. Salvadore, and Corpus Domini, which is
the most highly ornamented of them all. There are in all 110 churches and chapels. The royal palace, already mentioned, is a brick building of great extent, covered with tiles, and consists of three wings surrounded with a court. The Castello Reale has a handsome front of the Corinthian or der, while the other three sides are Gothic. The buildings of the academy and university occupy the four sides of a square, surrounded with ar cades, the whole of which are covered with inscrip tions and basso-relievos. The opera house, or principal theatre, is a large building, and the largest in Italy. The arsenal, besides armories, and workshops for the manufacture of fire-arms, has a chemical laboratory, a cabinet of minerals, a library of metallurgical and mineralogical books, and furnaces for casting cannon. There are also teachers in it who instruct engineers, miners, &c. in their respective professions. The Royal Hos pital of Charity is on the plan of a celebrated one at Rome, where employment is found for its in mates and education for the children. The Palaz zo Carignani is a building of importance and even elegance, though its facade is only of brick. The barracks were regarded as among the finest In Eu rope. When the French occupied Turin in 1778, they destroyed the fine city gates, which were hand some. The citadel and other fortifications were also destroyed.
The Royal Academy of Turin has long held a high place among the learned societies of Europe, and continues to publish very valuable volumes of transactions, a particular account of which has been given in our article ACADEMY, Vol. 1. p. 69. It is particularly celebrated as having given to the world some of the finest productions of La There is also at Turin, a school for educating young men of rank, a lyceum, an institution for educating clergymen, and agricultural and veteri nary schools. The University, instituted in the beginning of the fifteenth century, was endowed for twenty-four professors, but it has been subsequent ly greatly extended. It has a museum, library, collections of statues, medals and vases, an obser vatory, and an anatomical theatre. Two schools, both of which are well attended, are dependant on the University.