The official name of the Pietro Micca Museum is “Museum of Pietro Micca and of the Siege of Turin in 1706”. The museum is dedicated to an Italian soldier who heroically died while defending Turin against the French troops.
Museo Pietro Micca Turin
Useful information
Address: Via Francesco Guicciardini, 7a -10121 Torino. Phone: +39 011 01167580. Opening times: From 10:00 till 18:00. Ticket price: . (Note that opening hours and admission prices may change)
Public transport: Metro: Porta Susa; tram: 7, 10, 13; bus: 27, 29, 46, 49, 51, 55, 56, 57, 59 and 59/, 71, 72 and 72/.
History and description
The Museo Civico Pietro Micca e dell’Assedio di Torino del 1706 was inaugurated in 1961. The occasion was the first centenary of the Italian state, founded in 1861.
Pietro Micca was a soldier in the army of the Duchy of Savoy. He became a national hero when he managed to stop the French troops from entering the city by detonating a mine in an underground tunnel. Unfortunately, the heroic act cost him his own life.
The tunnel was part of a whole network that branced out from the Citadel to the countryside. The total length of the tunnels was around 14 kilometers. Part of this network, including the spot where Micca sacrificed his life, is visitable as part of the museum tour.
The rest of the collection of the museum includes documents, prints, objects and models of the city and Citadella related to the siege of 1706.
Of the Cittadella, built by Emanuele Filiberto in 1564, only the Mastio (the biggest tower of a defensive structure) remains.