The Palazzo dell’Università in Turin consists of a block of houses (the isolato di Sant’Elena) between Via Po, which connects the river of that name to the center, and Via Verdi.
Palazzo dell’Università Turin
Useful information
Address: Via Po, 17 – Turin. Phone: +39 . Opening times: Monday till Friday from 07.30 till 19.30. Ticket price: Free.
History and description
The commissioner for the construction of the Palazzo dell’Università was Vittorio Amedeo II. The occasion was a revision of the school system at the beginning of the 17th century.
Michelangelo Garove was the architect in charge of the Palazzo della Regia Università. By the 1930s, however, several architects (including Antonio Bertola, Giovanni Antonio Ricca and the ubiquitous Filippo Juvarra) had contributed to the building’s construction.
Juvarra was responsible for the stucco design of the exterior, which was carried out by Serafino Avogadro and Pietro Somasso from Lugano.
The main entrance on the Via Verdi is the work of Giuseppe Maria Talucchi and is of much later date (1834).
One of the architectural highlights of the building is its courtyard (the cortile d’onore, or “honorary courtyard”), which runs parallel to what was used to be the Via della Zecca (and is now the Via Verdi).
For the portico on the first floor the architect opted for smooth stone columns, while for the loggia on the next floor alternating smooth and grooved stone were used.