In which Sid and Doris enjoy a town they like and plot a ride along a new Francigena.
For a full guide to Turin you need another correspondent. We like the town and went to wander, finding a Gay Pride parade. The theme continued into the evening with a tremendously camp disco tram.
With their new eye for cathedralism S and D visit the Church of San Lorenzo. It was required to maintain the pattern of the facades of the other buildings in the square. So the front that you see on the right here under the lantern is plain.
This below is a view further along the square.
Inside the San Lorenzo, Guarano Guarino (building in 1666 around the time of Wren’s St Paul’s in London), made a baroque dome with eight convex sides.
It is a delight. But what of that modern looking tower in the picture above. Why was it not required to blend in with the rest of the square?
This Torre Littoria is a piece of Italian rationalist architecture. It was the first Italian building with a welded steel frame. Completed in 1934, financed by Royal Mutual Assurance, it was intended to be the headquarters of the National Fascist party (though it never was). Could that explain how they got planning permission? It is still owned by RMA and is alone in being 19 storeys high where little else is taller than the palace of the Dukes of Savoy. Or the Mole.
We were intrigued by this poking above the roofscape. It is the spire on the Mole Antonelli. Mole is Italian for big building. Antonelli was the architect of the synagogue(!) in 1863. In 1848 Jews had won full rights and the community wanted their building to be worthy of Italy’s capital city – as Turin then was. Later, the elders decided it wasn’t the building they wanted after all, not least because the architect had run away with the brief and it was all getting very expensive.
The Mole was given to the city in exchange for a piece of land where a Moorish Revival synagogue was quickly built.
With advance booking it is possible to go up the Mole to see across the region. Next time.
Fiat owner’s clubs are celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Coupe Fiat, styled by Chris Bangle at the in-house Stile-Centro. It was based on the Tipo platform so relatively cheap to introduce and maintain. Here is one driven from Britain for the occasion. Still on the list.
Finally for this post, a gent sitting at an Olivetti Letter25 typing with great rhythm and dexterity to turn out interesting artwork. So: Ivrea, Turin, Olivetti. 
It all joins up.