• Milan and Turin—Delightful Cities to Visit
    Awake!—2001 | July 22

    • Turin—Another of Italy’s Jewels

      Turin, a city with a population of about one million, is located at the narrowest point of the Po Valley, at the foot of the western Alps, and less than 60 miles [100 km] from the French border. It is surrounded by an awesome “amphitheater” of alpine mountains that reach as far as the eye can see. Almost half of Turin’s province consists of mountains, woods, and valleys. A drive of less than an hour takes you to mountain resorts. In less than two hours, you can be on the beaches of Liguria.

      Turin’s origins predate the Romans. Originally a settlement of a people called the Taurini, it later became a Roman colony, the remains of which lie in the historical area. There are medieval features, but most of the city’s architecture dates from the 17th and 18th centuries, with the baroque style dominating among buildings lining the downtown streets.

      Turin is home to one of the best Egyptian museums in the world. Its exceptional collection of objects from the ancient civilization that developed along the Nile is second only to the one in Cairo.

      In a visit of just a few hours, you can admire the city’s historical and artistic center, the Madama Palace, the Royal Palace, and the Mole Antonelliana, which at 550 feet [170 m] high was until recently one of the tallest masonry structures in Europe. As a city landmark, it is sometimes called Turin’s equivalent of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Then there is Valentino Park, with its botanical gardens as well as lawns, avenues, fountains, and a medieval burg—a picturesque and faithful reconstruction of a 15th-century Piedmontese village.

      Turin is one of the most important manufacturing centers of Italy. It is the home of the FIAT (Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino) car company. If you are interested in vintage cars, the Museo dell’Automobile, about two miles [3 km] from the city, has a collection of 150 veteran, vintage, and classic cars, including Bugattis, Maseratis, and Lancias. It is obvious why the livelihood of about half of Turin’s present population is in some way tied to the automotive industry.

      Jehovah’s Witnesses in Turin and Milan

      The valleys around Turin have for centuries had a high concentration of Waldenses, the descendants of itinerant preachers of the Protestant Reformation. It is no surprise, then, that during a trip to Europe in 1891, Charles Taze Russell, who took the lead among the early Bible Students (as Jehovah’s Witnesses were then known), made contact with a local Waldensian pastor, Daniele Rivoir. Russell made arrangements with him to have a number of Bible study aids translated into Italian. The year 1903 saw the formation of the first group of Bible Students in this area. When Russell returned to Italy in 1912, some 40 individuals were holding regular Christian meetings in a building in Pinerolo, near Turin. And at Pinerolo, their first Italian assembly was held in 1925.

      Thus, the first real traces of Bible Students in Turin date back to the 1920’s. The first missionaries of Jehovah’s Witnesses were sent to Italy in 1946. They helped to put the work of the Witnesses onto a solid footing. In the late 1940’s and early 1950’s, the first congregations were formed in Turin. Now there are some 13,000 of Jehovah’s Witnesses in the city and its province.