Residents of Turin has always referred to Piazza della Repubblica as Porta Pila, a picturesque declination of Porta Palazzo, because this north western passage of the city led to the nearby Palazzo di Città. Also known as the “great cook” or even “the belly of Turin”, Piazza della Repubblica is associated by everyone with the Balòn fleamarket, the Portobello of Turin. The octagonal layout, bordered by buildings designed by Formento, Lombardi, Blachier and Mosca, hosts an enormous market daily where everything can be found: fruit and vegetables, fish, clothing. Few other places in the city have inspired literature and cinema like this big square, the largest in Turin: from 20th century feuilletton to La donna della domenica, novel by Fruttero & Lucentini made into a film in the 1970s and a TV miniseries in 2010.
The octagon of the square contains three buildings: an Art deco building housing the fruit and vegetable market, an 19th century building now occupied by the Vigili Urbani; and the most recent, the Mercato Centrale, designed by Massimiliano Fuksas in the early 2000s.
Film Commission Torino Piemonte
Via Cagliari 42 — 10153 Torino
Phone: +39 011 2379201
Fax: +39 011 2379298
Email: info@fctp.it
