...exiting the Best Western Hotel Gran Mogol in Turin, and crossing Piazza Lagrange and Piazza Carlo Felice, one heads for Via Roma:
After five hundred metres one reaches the first wonderful Baroque scene of the eighteenth-century Piazza San Carlo with its equestrian statue of Emanuele Filiberto, the first Duke of Savoy. The Duke chose Turin as his state's capital, transferring it from Chambery.
A further ten minutes under the porticos of Via Roma brings you to Piazza Castello, centre of government during the 2000-year history of the city.
Palazzo Madama is in the centre of the square with Palazzo Reale in the background, surrounded by seventeenth and eighteenth-century buildings: The Palazzo del Governo, the Armeria Reale (Royal Armoury), Teatro Regio, Guarini's Church of San Lorenzo, and behind Palazzo Reale the fifteenth-century cathedral with its Chapel of the Holy Shroud, the Teatro Romano and the Porte Palatine, the best-known legacy of the Roman era.
One after another, the museums: The Museo Egizio (Museum of Egypt), the Museo del Cinema (Museum of Film), the Armeria Reale (Royal Armoury), the Biblioteca Reale (Royal Library), the sumptuous apartments of Palazzo Reale, Palazzo Carignano, the Galleria Sabauda, Palazzo Madama, the Museo d'Arte Antica (Museum of Ancient Art).
Next to the Palazzi del Potere (that are today museums), are the following splendid baroque churches: San Filippo, San Lorenzo, Santa Cristina, San Carlo.
Then come places of worship such as the "Chiesa della Consolata" and the "Basilica di Maria Ausiliatrice" from where the works of San Giovanni Bosco radiated out to every continent.
Other major museum locations are also close at hand: the Galleria d'Arte Moderna (Gallery of Modern Art), the Fondazione Accorsi, Palazzo Bricherasio.
For all advice regarding visits to museums and art galleries (e.g. temporary exhibitions), full details and information may be obtained from the reception staff at the hotel.
Staff can also supply the "TORINO CARD", that provides access to around 80 museums in the city and surrounding area.