Turin
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Elegant buildings
Monastry & Po River |
Turin, the fourth largest city in Italy, is situated on the banks of the river Po. It has a beautiful, medieval castle, the Palazzo Madama, which is found at the Piazza Castello right in the middle of town and in case you don't already know, Turin is the hometown of Italy's car - the Fiat - and the famous Fiat factory. The city is full of attractive buildings, spacious gardens and many restaurants and cafes. Also the elegantly built Capuchin monastery can be seen beside the Po River in La Gran Madre. |
Tower of Palazzo Madama
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| Here, my father has asked me to tell you of a great sporting tragedy that occurred in Turin half a century ago. It was an afternoon in May, 1949 when the Italian National Soccer Team were on a return flight from Lisbon, Portugal where they had just played a friendly match. Due to low cloud and fog, the plane they were on descended too soon and crashed into the retaining wall at the back of the Basilica Superga that overlooks Turin. Everyone on board died - including the entire team, their coach, a journalist (Renato Casalbore who was editor of Turin's "Tutto Sport") and everyone involved with the team except their manager who hadn't accompanied them on this journey. |
| No Italian could believe what had happened. Their soccer team who had won five premierships in a row had perished. It was very difficult for the Italians to come to terms with this and my dad can still remember seeing all the people crying in the streets. Soccer meant and still means a great deal to the people of Italy. |
