Italy Guide
Piemonte and Valle d'Aosta
Piazza San Carlo
Piazza San Carlo is a grand, cloister-like space fronted by Baroque facades, the porticoes of which house elegant cafés. Holding court is an equestrian statue of the Savoy duke Emanuele Filiberto raising his sword in triumph after securing Turin's independence from the French and Spanish at the battle of San Quintino in 1574. The entrance to the square is watched over by two gigantic Fascist-era reclining nudes representing Turin's two rivers, the Po and the Dora, and past them the twin Baroque churches of San Carlo Borromeo and Santa Cristina.