The Borgo Medievale of Turin: an invented 15th century on the banks of the Po

People know Turin for the Mole, the Egyptian Museum, the porticoes of the centre. Few, even among those who live there, go all the way down to the southern edge of the Parco del Valentino, where the Po flows slow and wide. And yet it is here, along Viale Virgilio, that one of the city's most surprising corners hides: a medieval village that is not medieval, but that tells the story of it better than many authentic castles.

A masterful fake

It was built between 1882 and 1884 for the Italian General Exhibition of Turin, under the guidance of the architect Alfredo d'Andrade. The idea was ambitious: to reproduce with philological precision workshops, houses and a Rocca inspired by 15th-century models that really existed in Piedmont and the Aosta Valley. Most of the Exhibition's pavilions were later demolished, but the village's success was such that the city decided to keep it. Today, walking among its cobbled streets, with the fountain, the frescoes and the shop signs, is an experience suspended in time.

Entrance and surroundings

Entry to the village is free, and this makes it a perfect refuge for those seeking a Turin without the frenzy of mass tourism. You enter on foot, slow down, look at the late-medieval gardens, and come out towards the river. A little further north, within the same park, the Castello del Valentino lines up its red bricks and its courtyards overlooking the Po: a Savoy residence since 1564, today the seat of the Politecnico's Department of Architecture, it has been a UNESCO site since 1997.

The beauty lies precisely in this interweaving. In less than a kilometre you go from an imagined 15th century to a real Baroque castle, always along the water, always among the greenery. No crowded ticket office, no set routes: just the sound of the Po and a few Turinese on bicycles.

When to go

Come early in the morning or in the late afternoon, ideally in spring or in the mild months of autumn, when the park's leaves set the bricks aglow. It is a Turin that does not shout, and for that very reason is worth all the more.

Related guides: Hidden Piedmont: off-the-circuit villages between the Occitan valleys and Monferrato · Hidden medieval villages in Italy: gems far from the crowds · Langhe and Monferrato by train: a slow weekend between Alba, Barolo and Canelli.

How to get there

The Borgo Medievale stands within the Parco del Valentino, along the bank of the Po and a short distance from the centre of Turin. It is easily reached on foot or by the urban public transport lines that skirt the park. Those arriving by train can get off at Torino Porta Nuova, the nearest station, or at Porta Susa; the reference airport is Turin-Caselle, connected to the centre by bus and train. By car you arrive via the city ring roads, with car parks near the park.

Practical guides for Torino

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