ABSTRACT
The square is a rectilinear volume bisected by the north-south street Via Roma that begins at the Piazza Castello three blocks to the north and continues three blocks south to the Piazza Carlo Felice and the Porta Nueva train station, formerly the southern gate of the city. Uniform, three-story façades with a consistent cornice line define the square as well as the streets leading into and out of it. Bounding the south end of the square and on either side of Via Roma are the twin Baroque churches of San Cristina, to the west, and San Carlo to the east. While twin churches on a piazza is similar to the Piazza del Popolo, the organization here is unusual in that unlike many enclosed squares that have primary street entry at the edge, Piazza San Carlo has a primary entrance in its center. Moreover, unlike the Piazza del Popolo’s twin churches that project into the space making them somewhat more theatrical Baroque objects, in Torino, the twin churches become almost a backdrop to the action within the square.
