"Royal town" a Torino Travel Page by draguza

In 1848 Piedmont was at the centre of the first Italian war of independence. The Piedmontesi defeated the Austrians at Pastrengo and then, thanks to the endurance of Tuscan volunteers at Curtatone and Montanara, they managed to overcome them at Goito. On the 30th October, Carlo Alberto was crowned King of Italy. However, the war rapidly turned against the Piedmontesi who were forced to surrender to the Austrians and give up Tuscany. After the annexation of Lombardy, Tuscany, Emilia and Romagna, and the Papal State, the international policies of Cavour and the exploits of Garibaldi, who conquered the Kingdom of the Due Sicilie in February 1861, Vittorio Emanuele II was proclaimed King of Italy on the 18th February. The capital was originally in Turin but was moved to Rome on the 27th March. The Albertine Statute celebrated fifty years in 1898.

Over time Turin became more and more industrialised and it was therefore heavily bombed during the Second World War by the Allies and later subjected to terrible destruction by the retreating Germans. In the 1950's Fiat played an essential role in the re-development of the city, and, after a period of recession in the 1980's, it gained importance in the 1990's as one of the most developed technological regions. Thanks to Turin's new image, the city will host the winter Olympics in 2006.