Turin, Italian Torino, City (pop., 2001 prelim.: 857,433), Piedmont region, northwestern Italy. Located on the Po River, it was founded by the Taurini. It was partly destroyed by Hannibal in 218 bc. It was made a Roman military colony under Emperor Augustus. A part of the Lombard duchy in the 6th century ad, it became the seat of government under Charlemagne (742–814). It passed to the house of Savoy in 1046. The capital of the kingdom of Sardinia in 1720, Turin was occupied by the French during the Napoleonic Wars. The political and intellectual centre of the Risorgimento movement, it served as the first capital of united Italy (1861–65). During World War II Turin sustained heavy damage from Allied air raids but was rebuilt. It is the focus of Italy’s automotive industry and an international fashion centre. The Shroud of Turin has been housed in the 15th-century cathedral there since the 16th century.
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