The most elegant square in Turin and arguably in northern Italy. A long, formal Baroque rectangle laid out in the 1630s, ringed with arcades, terminated by the twin churches of Santa Cristina and San Carlo Borromeo, and presided over by the bronze equestrian statue of Emanuele Filiberto — the caval ëd bronz — sword sheathed in mid-flourish.
Order coffee under the porticoes at Caffè Torino or Caffè San Carlo and watch the Turinese sweep through on their evening passeggiata. The pavement is dotted with brass plates marking the spots where notable events happened; one of them, in front of Caffè Torino, is a small brass bull that locals rub with their foot for luck.