Esoteric Turin: Complete Guide to the City of Magic

Why is Turin the most famous esoteric city in Italy? Discover the chiaroscuro hidden side of Piedmonte's capital

Black and white, Good and Evil, light and darkness: there's something different about Turin, you can feel it in the air. De Chirico, a famous italian painter, found in Turin the ultimate inspiration for his metaphysical art works. The mysterious aura surrounding the city and the emotional tension that floats among the streets have indeed very ancient origins, a magical legacy so powerful that turned Turin into the most famous esoteric city in Italy.

"Turin is the most soulful, mysterious, unsettling city in the entire world" - Georgio De Chirico

Turin has two souls: it joins London and San Francisco to create the triangle of Black Magic, but it also sits in the middle of the triangle of White Magic too, alongside Lyon and Prague. A supernatural disposition which goes way back, when Egyptian goddess Isis asked his son Fetone to lay the foundations of a new city right where the Po river, personification of the sun, met the river Dora, symbol of the moon. A piece of land where ancient powers were joined are mixed together, cut in two by the 45th parallel.

Turin from above (@ema_therabbit)

The result is a contrasting city, where the day belongs to Good and the night is ruled by Evil, where magic feels at home. Last year, Turin was given the title of "World Capital of Magic" thanks to the "magical powers" of 15.000 people who gatahered in Piazza Castello for New Year's celebrations and performed the world's biggest magic trick ever.

The best of Esoteric Turin: where magic belongs

Magic calls for even more magic. Thanks to its charm and unique nature, Turin has become the home of some of the most famous esoteric figures of our century. First and foremost Gustavo Rol, know as "the man of many possibilities", who not only emobies the stereotype of the mysterious medium at its best, but who was also able to turn himself into a mytical creature everybody wanted to have a glimpse of. We are talking about immense powers, from telepathy and telekinesis to the power of healing and levitation!

Gustavo Rol's portay (@Archivio Franco Rol)

A plaque to remember the medium was placed in via Silvio Pellico 31, hung on the façade of the gray building where Rol spent most of his life. Casa Rol is as eccentric as was his resident: a triumph of antique furniture and satin curtains culminating in the "Hall of Mirrors", Roi's spiritual laboratory where he used to test his powers.

Interior of Casa Rol (@Archivio Franco Rol)

After Rol we can't not mention another main protagonist of Turin's Hall of Fame: the architect, painter, writer and airplane pilot Carlo Mollino. An eclectic and restless figure, Mollino is remembered as one of the most talented italian designers of the twentieth century, with a taste for the unusual that very few have been able to replicate with the same creativity and sensuality. Among the architectural masterpieces that he created in the city (such as the Chamber of Commerce and the RAI Auditorium) the renovation of the Teatro Regio is probably the greatest of all. Games of volumesa and reflections, bold choices and avantgarde influences: Mollino didn't leave much of the previous eighteenth-century version of the theatre (that was completely abandoned after a fire that destroyed it in 1936) making room for completly new forms.

The oyster-shaped stalls area, guarded by a unique "stalactite" style chandelier (@TeatroRegioTorino)

Casa Mollino is the biggest proof of his artistic talent. The entire house if full of mysterious references to Egyptian culture, from the boat-shaped bed (for a journey to a new dimension?) to the table looking like a funerary monument. Mollino himself referred to the apartment as the "house for the ultimate warrior's rest"; yet, the architect did not spend even a single day here!

Casa Mollino, living room (@Beatrice Brandini)

We can't mention the Egyptian art without mentioning the world-renowned Egyptian Museum, a true Italian excellence (second only to Cairo's one), where Turin honors its long-lasting bond with its ancestors. It is among the 6,500 antiquities located in the museum that Turin's war between Good and Evil reaches its climax. Even sculptures, sarcophagi, papyrus and amulets are demanded to line up with the Light or the Darkness: all the artifcats belonging to or portraying Thutmose III, father of the Egyptian esoteric disciplines, are bearers of positive energy, while those related to the figure of Tutankamon, the accursed pharaoh, are disciples of the forces of Evil.

Esoteric Turin: all the events you can't miss

Once the most enigmatic side of the city is unveiled, it becomes almost impossible to see it with the same eyes ever again. Fortunately for you, finding magic in Turin is not so difficult. The Esoterica Festival awaits you on the 17-18-19th of May 2019 so you can enjoy three days dedicated to mystery. Conferences, seminars, meditations, magical workshops and live magic tricks by some of Europe's most famous magicians will all celebrate the city's powerful mystical aura and promote a real "cultural magic" of the esoteric arts.

In September you can also enjoy Torino Spirituality - the previous event in 2018 focused on the need to open up to the inner dialogue and personal reflection that fights against the spiritual drowsiness of our age. Because "something incalculable exists, and we must protect it from the grip of the world".

How to not miss the best that the Piedmontese capital has to offer? Choose one of our hostels in Turin and continue reading to find out where Good and Evil fight for control of the city!

The esoteric tour of Turin between "white" and "black" areas

Between ancient legends and impenetrable mysteries, Turin shows its double face to the most attentive visitor, two opposite paths that meander through the urban centre, some in darkness, others in light. Our tour to discover the esoteric in Turin starts in the pulsating heart of White Magic, inside the beautiful Royal Gardens which are precisely in front of the monumental marble basin that houses the Fontana dei Tritoni. The artwork depicts a Nereid while having fun amid jets of water in the company of numerous Tritons, the sons of Poseidon. A hymn to the carefree nature of spring, immersed in the purifying element par excellence -water.

We follow the flow of positive energy up to the Church of the Gran Madre, a unique religious building that is suprisisngly without crosses, but with a Greek tympanum, owned by the local council. On the other hand, it is whispered that it houses inside the Holy Grail, the chalice used by Jesus during the Last Supper. The biggest clue? The two singular statues of the Faith and Religion sitting on the steps. The first, in the form of an angel, bears the symbol of the divine eye on the forehead and looks reverently at the woman next to her, Religion, who gazs with a lost expression towards the horizon and a cup (the Holy Grail?) in her left hand. Some esoteric experts affirm that the direction in which the statue looks indicates the burial place of the chalice, hidden in the darkest corners of Turin.

Vittorio Veneto (@mattiacaravello)

Next sightseeing spot is Solferino square with Fontana Angelica. In commemoration of my parents this fountain, founded by the Minister Vasinotti as a monument, is commonly referred to as "entrance to infinity." The allegory of the four seasons traditionally attributable to sculptural complexes has a new spiritual value when viewed through magical filters. In the past, men overcame the temptation of treachery of Love (love), and had Virtue (virtue) lead us to two legendary guardians of Hercules pillars Boaz and Joaquim. Boaz and Joaquim keep the gap of intelligent knowledge dimension (represented by free flowing water from the two amphoras marked under the Aries sign).

Turin's great protagonist, Morere Entreya is the last "good" energy outpost base is watching the city quietly from above. It was entrusted by the Jewish community in the 1800s and abandoned the synagogue structure to be the world's tallest masonry building with a height of over 163 meters. What is the reason behind such a fierce struggle against the sky? It is said that it is like an antenna, absorbing the aggressive energy that springs up from the ground and transmitting it throughout the city.

Closer look of Morere Entreya (@Stefano_ditella)

The White Magic triangle extends to Piazza Castello: Beyond the Palazzo Reale gate, Turin belongs to the dark. Two of the Greek myths Dios Curie informing the beginning of the reign of evil, Caster and Pollux are defending the boundaries separating sacred Turin and villainous Turin. According to the most bold theory, it is said that Castelo Plaza hides three alchemical caves in its lower soil.

The gate of Palazzo Reale (@ piemonte.abbonamentomusei.it)

Head west following the black magic path, you will find Turin's black nucleus, Statue and the square. The beautiful Risorgimento square has a dark past. This area, excluded from the boundary of the city, was used as a Roman cemetery and was a place where cruel execution was executed. Since then, the square symbolizes the excellence of the symbol of the Black Magic triangle, the Trafo del Frejus fountain. Among the high stone pyramids that grew up in the name of the injured workers, the esoteric art saw the work by the devil. It is said that an angel with an indifferent gaze towards the human being seen at the foot at the top is Lucifer, an angel of rebellion prohibited from the earth.

Piazza Stuarto (@ lucrezia485)

Then, how about the Devil's gate? Currently the entrance door of Palazzo Trucchi di Levaldigi, home to anca Nazionale del Lavoro, flourishes as a tourist attraction in recent years. According to the city legend, a deeply carved wooden doors magically appeared on the stormy night. The foolish apprentice summoned the devil without permission. As a punishment, he was imprisoned forever in the palace behind the door which was thought to be impossible to open.

The last introduction is located outside the city center of Turin, the Ranzo Hill, where it is said that the devil appeared. At that time, Ransingi was in a critical situation. The bridge under construction of the Tsura continues to collapse and it was impossible to go to Turin. There, the devil promised assistance in exchange for the human soul. But when time for the sacrifice came, Ransesi let the dog cross the bridge. The devil was extremely angry with the betrayal, and when he slammed his huge hand, he left a deep hole in the riverbed visible from the Demon Bridge.

Ponte De Diavlo (@simoneangilletta)