Turin (Italian Torino), city, northwestern Italy, capital of Turin Province and of Piedmont Region (Piemonte), at the confluence of the Po and Dora Riparia rivers. The city is a major cultural and industrial center, with manufactures of motor vehicles, leather and rubber goods, clothing, and plastic products.
Except for the Cathedral of San Giovanni Battista (late 15th century), most of the important public buildings in Turin date from the 17th and 18th centuries; many are by the baroque architects Guarino Guarini and Filippo Juvarra. In the cathedral's Chapel of the Holy Shroud is an urn containing a shroud in which, according to tradition, Christ was wrapped for burial. Other points of interest include the Armeria Reale (in the former royal palace), a museum with an outstanding collection of weapons and armor; the Palazzo Madama, a palace now housing a museum of ancient art; the Palazzo Carignano, birthplace of Victor Emmanuel II of Italy; the domed Mole Antonelliana, built in 1863 as a synagogue; and the Academy of Science. The Superga Basilica (completed 1731), a pantheon mausoleum of the house of Savoy, is on a hill overlooking the city. The University of Turin, the city's intellectual center, was founded in 1404.
