As you go out of the hotel and cross the two squares Piazza Lagrange and Piazza Carlo Felice, you will come to Via Roma. After five hundred metres you will be presented with the exquisite seventeenth century Baroque architecture of Piazza San Carlo, with a statue of Emanuele Filiberto on horseback in the centre of the square. Emanuele Filiberto was the first Savoy Duke to choose the city of Turin as the capital of his territory, which was previously Chambery.
Another ten minutes' walk under the arches of Via Roma will bring you to Piazza Castello, which has been the city's governmental centre right through its two thousand year history. The square features Palazzo Madama in its centre with Palazzo Reale (The Royal Palace) in the background, and is surrounded by seventeenth and eighteenth century buildings, including Palazzo del Governo (home of Piedmont's regional authority), the Royal Armoury, The Royal Theatre and the Church of San Lorenzo. Behind the Royal Palace stands Turin's fifteenth century cathedral, which contains the Chapel of the Holy Shroud. Next to it is the Roman Theatre and the ''Porte Palatine'', the ancient gateway to the city, Turin's best known and most important testimonies to its Roman past.
Step by step, you'll come across a wealth of museums, including the Egyptian Museum, the Museum of Cinematography, the Royal Armoury, the Royal Library, the sumptuous apartments of the Royal Palace, the Savoy Gallery, Palazzo Madama and the Museum of Ancient Art.
Alongside the former corridors of power, which have become museums themselves, you can admire a number of beautiful Baroque churches, including San Filippo, San Lorenzo, Santa Cristina and San Carlo. Other places of worship include the ''Chiesa della Consolata'' and the ''Basilica di Maria Ausiliatrice'', where the work of San Giovanni Bosco shone towards every continent.
For all visits to museums and art galleries as well as for temporary exhibitions, all the necessary documentation and information will be provided by our staff at the hotel's reception. They will also be able to give you the special TORINO CARD, which will give you access to around 80 museums and galleries in the city and surrounding area.
