Torino Porta Nuova

The Torino Porta Nuova station, inaugurated in 1864, was designed with futuristic criteria for its time. Engineer Alessandro Mazzucchetti, tasked with designing the entire infrastructure, envisioned a rational and functional layout of the spaces—concepts that would only become common more than sixty years later. In the clear distinction between arrivals and departures, between the spacious halls and the ticket office area, three waiting rooms were planned. The first-class waiting room is a true 19th-century masterpiece: the Sala Gonin.

This room is a solemn environment rich in artistic testimonies, starting with the frescoes by the Turin painter Francesco Gonin, who, a few years earlier, had collaborated with Alessandro Manzoni on the publication of the first illustrated edition of The Betrothed (I Promessi Sposi). The natural elements—Nature, Earth, Water, and Fire—depicted through the trompe l’oeil technique, characterize the room, along with the 18th-century boiseries and the majestic Murano glass chandelier.