Turin is a city of beautiful squares and avenues, but no place is lovelier than the arcaded Piazza San Carlo, surrounded by arcaded buildings and punctuated at one end by the matching facades of the churches of Santa Cristina and San Carlo.
Beneath the arcades are some of Turin's most stylish shops and the historic cafés where Italy's Risorgimento was plotted in the mid-1800s.
In the center of the square stands an imposing equestrian statue of Duke Emmanuel Philibert (1838), who seems to be choreographing the activity below.
Look on the pavement under the arcades for the works — often in progress — of Turin's talented chalk artists.
