The origins
Turin and Milan are both built on ancient Roman castra from which they have inherited their checkerboard layout. In Turin, the Via XX Settembre will lead you to an archaeological area where every brick building reflects Roman pragmatism. But it is in Aosta that the most beautiful Roman remains are to be discovered, with the triumphal arch of Augustus at the top. In Milan, you can only marvel at the decorative splendour of the first paleochristian basilicas, whose apsidal decorations in gold mosaics reflect the influence of Byzantium. One of the largest circular churches in the Western Roman Empire, the church of San Lorenzo Maggiore with its chapel of Sant'Aquilino is worth a visit. A few centuries later, these basilicas were to serve as the basis for Romanesque buildings, such as the superb church of St Ambrose in Milan with its beautiful portico. Baptisteries, campaniles and bell towers are among the great attributes of Romanesque buildings, which often bear the hallmarks of the Lombardy Romanesque style, characterized by a great formal sobriety underlined by a refined decorative research, of which the Lombardy band - a projecting decoration made up of vertical bands linked by blind arcatures - is the most famous representative. The Cathedral of Trento is one of the masterpieces of the Lombardy Romanesque. This was also the period when the city-states were fortified with castles and ramparts. The castle of Sirmione, on the shores of Lake Garda, with its enclosures whose height increases as the keep approaches, is a model in this respect. Then gradually these imposing and crenellated silhouettes will be transformed into palaces-castles in the Gothic period. In religious matters, the buildings became more refined and taller, like the Duomo in Milan and its superb polychrome stained glass windows. It was also the development of civil power that was evident in buildings such as the broletto or municipal palace, with arcaded galleries on the ground floor and richly decorated rooms on the upper floor. The one in Como is one of the most beautiful.
From the Renaissance to the Revival
The Duomo, with its beautiful white marble facade, is the only example of Renaissance architecture in Turin... so don't miss it! In Milan, it was Bramante, the famous disciple of Da Vinci, who developed harmony and a sense of proportion in buildings such as the Santa Maria delle Grazie presbytery. The Renaissance can also be seen in the villas with their sumptuous and carefully laid out gardens, such as the Villa d'Este and its Italian garden on Lake Como. As the new capital of the Savoy, Turin was surrounded by sumptuous residences nicknamed the "Crown of Savoy Delights", whose ornamental richness heralded the Baroque effervescence. For it was in Piedmont that a Baroque style entirely dedicated to the display of power was to develop. The great figure of the time was Filippo Juvarra, who was to work on masterpieces such as the Superga Basilica with its sumptuous dome or the Veneria Reale, the most beautiful residence of the Savoys. This baroque theatricality finds its apogee in the development of Isola Bella, where the sumptuous Borromeo Palace and its garden tiered in 10 terraces already show the rococo exuberance. The 18th century was neoclassical. Its clear lines and harmonious proportions can be found in many theatres, with Milan's La Scala in the lead, and in the beautiful villas on the lakes. The 19th century was the century of urban effervescence. Milan and Turin spread far beyond their original walls, with wide tree-lined boulevards linking enlarged squares that were sublimated by the multiplication of superb covered galleries. If the use of the portico around a square is not new, the use of metal structures supporting large glass windows is a great novelty. A surge of modernity that found its masterpiece in the Mole Antonelliana in Turin, then the highest masonry building in Europe. It was also a time of romantic eclecticism, of which the Borgo Medievale, a reconstruction of a Piedmontese village for the Italian General Exhibition in Turin, was the most popular example.Creative Vitality
In the 1930s, the meeting of architecture and Fascism gave rise to a style combining borrowing from ancient canons and geometric rationality. Giuseppe Terragni is the great representative of this movement and it is to him that we owe the famous Casa del Fascio in Como. The Second World War did not spare the great cities of the North. They had to be rebuilt. This is how Milan became a land of modernism. The 1950s and 1960s were the years of concrete, which can be seen in structures that have become emblematic, such as the Pirelli skyscraper by Gio Ponti and Pier Luigi Nervi or the Velasca Tower. In Turin, the centenary of Italian unity was the occasion for the construction of new buildings, including Nervi's astonishing Palazzo del Lavoro with its daring concrete and metal structure. The north of Italy then became a land of welcome for the greatest architects. In Turin, don't miss the Intesa San Paolo Tower by Renzo Piano or the Church of the Holy Face by Mario Botta. Milan is full of so many works of starchitects that we cannot mention them all. But among the most emblematic are the Prada Foundation by Rem Koolhaas, the Union Credit Tower by Cesar Pelli, the Feltrinelli Foundation by Herzog & de Meuron, and above all, the brand new City Life district, at the heart of which is the Piazza Tre Torri, surrounded by dancing towers by Daniel Liebeskind, Arata Isozaki and Zaha Hadid. Hadid is also responsible for the Messner Mountain Museum on the Plan de Corones, an architectural feat nestled in the rock so as not to break the harmony of these landscapes, which are also home to some very beautiful traditional stone and wood buildings. And let's not forget design, of which Milan is the great capital, but which is also on display in Turin in old industrial buildings that have been rehabilitated, such as the OGR, the rolling stock repair warehouses. Surprising!
