More Turin luxury accommodation after the Villa Matilde Relais is available at the Bella Rosina Relais near Venaria Reale, in the Mandria national park. It might not have the same grand setting as other Italian villas, but it has some lovely views and is utterly private.

In a romantic atmosphere, the Bella Rosina Relais offers access to a golf course, Italian health spa, and excellent cuisine offering organic products. In the Bella Rosina gallery you can see the mix of modern and country-style furnishings, and the romance of the surrounding national park.

See the Bella Rosina Relais website for luxury accommodation packages including spring wellness stays, resurgence-themed menus, celebrations for the 150-year anniversary of Italian unification and golf packages.

Continue reading: Luxury Turin accommodation: Villa Matilde Relais

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You can’t have a luxury Italian hotel without a health spa these days, and so this stunning hotel in the countryside not far from Turin offers the health spa bit and more. The Relais Villa Matilde is a gem of 18th architecture and is located at Romano Canavese, about 43 km from the Piedmontese capital.

On arriving at the villa, you pass through a grand entrance, into old grounds which surround the building, before arriving at the restored building. The luxury focus of this hotel is expressed in its furnishings and interior design, accurately reflecting the period of the villa and providing a unique setting.

Each room is different from another and the large halls and eating areas have been kept in the style of an antique, noble family residence. There is a restaurant called “Le Scuderie” which is housed in the converted stables, and a SINA Fitness Club with gym, health spa, swimming pool and tennis court. For more information on this luxury Italian hotel, see the Sina Hotels website.

Luxury Turin hotel: Relais Villa Matilde

Continue reading: Luxury Turin hotels: Relais Villa Matilde from Sina Hotels

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Italy’s north might be the extremely less romantic, industrialised end of the country but there’s a special history here, particularly when talking the automobile sector. And what must only be a temple to automobile history has finally reopened in the form of the National Italian Automobile Museum in Turin.

The newly restored museum opened over the weekend in the midst of celebrations for Italy’s 150 years of unification, and already 9,203 visitors have passed through. It has been dedicated to Giovanni Agnelli, one of Italy’s most famous names in the automobile sector, and was opened by President Giorgio Napolitano.

So what exactly can you see at the museum? Over two centuries of Italian automobile history from the first steam models produced in 1769, to the modern prototypes and concepts produced recently. There is even former President Sandro Pertini’s Fiat 500 on display. The Turin museum is open from Mondays 10am to 2pm, Tuesdays 2pm to 7pm, and Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays from 10am to 7pm. Late opening on Fridays is until 9pm and tickets are €8.

Italian National Automobile Museum reopens in Turin

Continue reading: Italy's national automobile museum reopens in Turin

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This quirky Italian cheese features a comic strip on the crust and will go on show at the Turin food festival from October 21-25. The cheese is called Gran Kinara and is an aged cheese made from real vegetable curd or rennet. The cheese is from Fattorie Fiandino who have been making cheese for 150 years in Piedmont.

The idea for the comic book design comes from celebrating the 1861 unification of Italy and the anniversary of one of the founders of the cheese company, Magno Fiandino. The two entrepreneur cousins now involved in the business, Egidio and Mario Fiandino, decided to ask designer Giorgio Sommacal his help to design the history of Italy across the cheese crust.

It’s quite unusual to see the great protagonists of Italian history - Mazzini, Cavour, Garibaldi and co - adorning the crust of a cheese in comic strip fashion but their should certainly be a few extra visitors at the Fiandino stand at the event because of it. If you’re at the Italian food festival, called the Salone del Gusto, you’ll find Fattorie Fiandino in hall two, stand G016.

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We had the chance to write about the Trivago survey about Italy’s most popular museums last week, but today we have the full list; read below for details:

1° Vatican Museums. More than 4,5 million people every year visit the museums
2° Palazzo Ducale, Venice’s romantic beauty is still a great favourite with tourists from all over the world.
3° Uffizi Gallery, Florence. The museum is the home of masterpieces from the Renaissance period (Botticelli, Da Vinci and Raffaello are all there).
4 ° Museo del Bargello, Florence. The place houses priceless old jewels from the Middle-East.
5° Galleria dell’Accademia, Florence. It’s main attraction the famous David by Michelangelo one of the greatest geniuses of the Italian Renaissance.
6° Egyptian Musuem of Turin. With its 30,000 artworks from Egypt is one of the world’s most important Egyptian museums.
7° Borghese Gallery, Rome. A great favourite with American and English tourists at the turn of last century’.
8° Galata, Museo del Mare. Genoa. It’s a new entry. This museum entirely devoted to the sea and its mysteries was inaugurated in 2004.
9° Archaeological Museum of Naples; an amazing museum housed in a beautiful 16th century palace and built upon an ancient necropolis.
10° Scuderie del Quirinale. It was open to the public only in 1999, its popularity among tourists is on the rise, thanks to a series of prestigious art -exhibitions including the one dedicated to Caravaggio and his art.
Photo | Flickr

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While waiting for the Museum by night event to take place here in Europe, Trivago has just published a list with the most popular museums in Italy. Rome and Florence top it with their most famous museums (i.e. the Vatican Museums, Borghese Gallery, Scuderie del Quirinale and the Uffizi) but the Trivago list also includes less well known museums such as the Egyptian Musem of Turin, Galata Museo del mare (Genoa) and the beautiful Museo Palazzo ducale in Venice.

Roma tops Trivago list

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After the careful restoration which took place in 2002 (the patches added by the nuns after the fire which devastated Chambery were all removed), this is the first time that Sacred Shroud of Turin has been put on display (it usually happens once every ten years). An event which is attracting thousands of people from all over the world. The origins of the cloth has over the years aroused debates among theologians and scientists, but believers ’s faith in its authenticity has never sagged. The city of Turin is doing its best to welcome visitors and up to now its efforts have been rewarded.

Continue reading: Sacred Shroud on display in the Duomo of Turin

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We all know that the city of Turin has a passion for luxury cars; a passion that has its roots in the history of the city itself, so today to celebrate this love of beautiful cars we have published a very special gallery showing a few beauties from Turin, including the famous 599 GTB Fiorano owned by Agnelli sion Lapo Elkann!

Continue reading: Luxury cars in Turin, the photo gallery

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What is believed to be Christ’s burial cloth, the Turin shroud, is going on display at the Turin Cathedral until May 23. Pope Benedict XVI will pray before the shroud on May 2nd, although the Catholic church does not necessarily claim the shroud is the original burial cloth of Jesus. Carbon dating tests over the years have thrown doubts onto the period of the cloth’s origin, although Italian Catholics and the faithful around the world still hold it as a symbol of Christ’s passion.

The shroud has been housed in the Turin Cathedral since 1578, apart from a brief period in World War II when it was hidden in the Montevergine Monastery after fears that the Nazis would steal the shroud and keep it as a symbol of their power. Like many religious relics, the shroud has a chequered history, being partly destroyed in a fire in 1572. The last carbon dating tests were carried out in 1999, a slight restoration of the cloth took place in 2002, and in 2009 faint text was found on the cloth that is believed to be the remnants of a death certificate.

While viewing the shroud is free, you should book online by going to the Holy Shroud website. Over two million people are expected to visit the shroud, with 1.5 million bookings already made. Visits are open until 10:15 pm to facilitate more visits, and the Turin Duomo opening hours have been extended to include Fridays. In total, a visit lasts one hour with three to five minutes of viewing time for the shroud itself.

Source | ItalyMag

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The beautiful town of Revello in Piedmont has its own historical pageant at last! With the promotional event Rupellum Maius Castellum” which will take place on 16-17 May, the inhabitants of Revello will re-enact the siege laid to the town in 1641. The siege which led to the total destruction of Soprano Castle (1642) was one of the most fearful events of the Succession war which started in 1630. For two days these non-professional actors will adopt the gestures, language and weapons of their forefathers, re-enacting duels, fights and firing salvos against the enemy. This unique and rather complex event which, among other things, will be accompanied by original songs and music of the period has involved all the inhabitants of Revello, requiring months and months of preparation (and dedication). For more information please visit the Revello website.

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