Via Roma "Vecchia" Torino

The Contrada Nuova was born in the early 1600s, as the main axis of the southern expansion, the first step in a more extensive urban restructuring plan for the new capital of the Savoy duchy. The first stretch, between Piazza Castello and Piazza San Carlo was built between 1613 and 1615, based on a project by Ascanio Vittozzi, making a cut in three medieval blocks. The works continue with the architect Carlo di Castellamonte inside a new wall of fortifications; the "new city" erases the signs of the pre-existing medieval city and, in a sort of ideal continuity, reconnects with the spirit of Augusta Taurinorum, the ancient Roman city, taking up the orthogonal mesh of the streets.