TURIN.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume IV, Issue 209, 6 April 1877, Page 1

TURIN.

f) URIN, tlie Capital of the Kingdom of Sardinia,, of t which Victor Emmanuel, the usurper of Italy, is rightful .I monarch, is a considerable city, containing somewhere about 200,000 inhabitants. It is situated in the north • of Italy, on the banks of the River Po, and of its k j tributary the Doire, and is entitled to rank amongst * the most beautiful towns of Europe. The solid method • in which the houses are constructed gives to the streets an air of grandeur, and the projection of the first storeys over the footpaths, forming arcades in the principal thoroughfares, has an extremely good effect. The Royal Palace, though less magnificent than many of those to be found elsewhere, is still a very handsome building, opening

on one side on the Place dv Chateau, a broad square with a castle in its midst, and on the other upon charmingly kid-out gardens, from whence a fine view of the surrounding country is commanded. The armoury of the Palace is remarkable for an unrivalled collection of armour, ancient and modern, and its chapel is striking from the severity and gloom of its appearance, which are occasioned by the predominance of black marble in its adornments. Amongst the other buildings and institutions worthy of notice are to be reckoned the Palaces of the Dukes of Savoy and of the Prince of Carignan, the University, the Military College, the Cathedral and several churches, the Royal Academy of Science, the Library, the Picture Gallery in the Palace of Madama, the Egyptian Museum and that of Antiquities, and tho Observatory. Turin, ig ahw tho ceat vf many mauufudurec : silke, velvets,

damask, glass, porcelain, liqueurs, chocolabe, all are produced here, and there are, moreover, a cannon foundry and a factory of arms and powder. The history of the place dates back to a remote antiquity. On the descent of Hannibal, the Carthaginian, into Italy, there dwelt in this town a Grallic tribe named the Taurini, who, refusing to adopt the cause of the Punic general, were subjected by him to rigorous treatment. In after ages," under Julius Cffisar, the place became a Eoman colony, and was known by the title of Colonia Julia Augusta Taurinorum. It was especially favoured by the Emperor Augustus, who did|much towards its embellishment. On the destruction of the "Western Empire the town became capital of one of the thirty duchies into which the Kingdom of the Lombards was divided ; and in modern days ie is remarkable for having sustained two sieges by the Trench, surrendering at length in 1640, but holding out successfully in 1706. The armies of France also

occupied it in 1796, 1798, and 1800, dismantling the town on the latter occasion. The route from Italy into France, by way of Cenis, lies through this town, and in ascending the mountain, by diligence from Susa, a view is obtained now and then of one of those lovely valleys for which Piedmont is famous, and which bear, unfortunately, a less felicitous reputation as forming the stronghold of the Waldenses, or Poor Men of Lyons, the followers of Peter Valdo, a meditcval heresiarch.