History Of Turin

Now the capital of the Piedmont region and a major industrial city in northwestern Italy, Turin can attribute much of its current personality to a long history that stretches back several thousand years. The name is thought to originate from the Celtic word Tau, meaning ‘mountains’, although the Italian translation of Turin is ‘torino’, meaning little bull, and it’s on this name that the city’s coat of arms and official symbol are based.

Early days

Historical evidence tells us that the Romans set up camp in the Turin area some time in the 1st century BC, possibly in the year 28 BC. It’s thought that the area was home to around 5,000 inhabitants at this time, most of whom lived within the military camp. Following the fall of the Roman Empire, control of the city was relinquished to the Lombards, who made it one of their 30 dukedoms. It was subsequently conquered by the Franks, who founded the Countship of Turin in 942 AD. From 1092 to 1130, the dignity of the count was held by the bishop as Conte di Turino, while from 1136 to 1191, it was ruled by bishops as a prince-bishopric. From 1230 to 1235, the Marchese di Monferrato ruled the city as a lordship.

The Middle Ages

By the end of the 13th century, following its annexing to the Duchy of Savoy, Turin’s population had swelled to some 20,000 residents and its place as one of the country’s most significant cities was already well established. Later, in the 15th century, the city’s university was established and many of its palaces and gardens were built. In 1563, the city was made the capital of the Duchy of Savoy by Emanuele Filiberto. At the beginning of the 18th century, the French attempted to take control of the city, but failed after a 117-day long siege.

Later times

With the 19th century came a brief occupation by Napoleon followed by the city’s pursuing of Italian unification. The city’s population at this time was close to 250,000 residents and its importance was steadily growing. The year 1871 saw the opening of the Fréjus Tunnel, which further placed the city on the map as it became an important transportation hub. The city was established as the capital of United Italy in 1861, but four years later, it relinquished the title to Florence. In the wake of this, the city responded with a splurge of industrial activity which saw the founding of both FIAT and Lancia in 1899 and 1906 respectively.

WWII saw some human and structural casualties in the city; however the city was quick to recover and its industries once again experienced growth on an exponential scale. With so much work available, the city saw an influx of immigrants and its population increased to a million by the year 1960 and later peaked at 1.5 million in 1975. An industrial crisis during the 1980s saw the population drop below the million-level, where it has remained ever since.