JAN+FEB 2017 - CERVINIA, AOSTA AND TURIN

And so now to Turin.  Happily, our 4th floor mansion house garret was reached by a lift.  Even more happily, it was right in the centre on Piazza Castello.  First morning, we trotted across the square to the superb Palazzo Madama 

and up some 40 steps to the first floor by a sweeping staircase 

to a series of high-ceilinged throne/reception rooms displaying portraits, carving, wood floors, intricate ceiling decorations

and a special treasure exhibition showing some glorious Limoges glasswork, including this casket which I coveted
 

Outside (you get a better feeling why it's called Castle Square)
 

we walked past the war monument 

and next to the Mole Antonelliana (building of monumental proportions, named after its architect, Alessandro Antonelli)

It was originally intended to be a synagogue but now houses the National Cinema Museum (apparently the tallest museum in the world - also the tallest unreinforced brick building in the world, ie built without a steel girder skeleton). 

Construction began in 1863, but not completed til 1889, having gone through various iterations.  Progress wastemporarily halted when things went dramatically over-budget and the Jewish community sponsors backed off, but the people of Turin, having watched the synagogue rise, demanded that the city take over the project instead. A 1953 tornado destroyed the top 47m of the pinnacle, and a metal structure was rebuilt in 1961, faced with stone.  

As well as the museum, there's a lift to 85m for a panoramic view of Turin in a bowl surrounded by the peaks

Inspired by what we'd seen from above, we traced the streets towards the Chiesa della Gran Madre di Dio by the river Po and fine square, Piazza Vittoria Veneto.

Next morning, straight across the Piazza Castello to the Palazzo Reale
 

3 floors of galleries, staterooms, bedrooms, ballrooms with vast huge paintings/tapestries/frescoes.and one of ancient artefacts all in one long building with galleries off the side.

From the upper floors were views of the Giardino Reale, Roman Amphitheatre remains (part of which is inside the lower tier of the museum), Porta Palatina, and Duomo tower
 

as well as back over the piazza
 

and, in the distance, the mole

Perhaps the most striking room was the armoury (over and above that gorgeous pietra dura floor)

in which horse armour is modelled by real horses, each favourite apparently lovingly stuffed and mounted after it had gone to the great stable in the sky

JAN+FEB 2017 - CERVINIA, AOSTA AND TURIN

From Cervinia, the skiing resort of Aosta 

is a short detour on the way back down to Turin.  Having swept down the hill in sunshine, it was a bit of a shock to find ourselves in a blizzard!

 

Not to be put off however, we were rewarded an hour later by a bit of sun (even if the pavement was a mite soggy and we only managed a coupleóf hours before our feet froze solid).

The 11th century cathedral, dedicated to the Madonna, replaced a 4th century edifice.

Sadly no photos allowed in the town's museum, showcasing its Roman history but there are bigger reminders.  A Roman bidge, a theatre, and ancient town walls, 6.4m high, preserved almost in their entirety.  The east and south gates are intact. The latter was the eastern gate, a double with three arches flanked by two towers known as the Porta Praetoria.

Outside the town walls is the 35 BC triumphal Arch of Augustus.

And, on the way out towards Turin, a reminder of the bilingual nature of the region

Onward to Turin

JAN+FEB 2017 - CERVINIA, AOSTA AND TURIN

Last year's week in a self-catering apartment in Cervinia was such a success that a second visit was inevitable.  This time, we'd be rounding off the week with a couple of nights in Turin (stopping en route in historic Aosta)

But first, to Cervinia.  On arrival, the weather wasn't wholly promising...
 

but the flat was cosy and warm and, we hoped (if the sun came out), would have a great view

Next morning, sure enough...

and this was the view along the street to the right from the balcony of the Matterhorn (its Swiss name, more properly, given that we were in Italy, Monte Cervino)

So off he went and, after this, the weather was pretty kind

Another close-up of the Matterhorn

 
as Duncan headed across the border into Switzerland

   

He also caught some sensational panoramics