The city of Torino is also called Turin. In the
English-speaking world the city has long been
known by its anglicized name, "Turin." Despite
this, in the run up to the 2006 Winter Olympics
many English-language news organizations have
chosen to refer to the city by its Italian name,
"Torino." Although many still use "Turin". This
can be quite confusing. The official name of the
Olympic Games is"Torino 2006". And Torino is
what we will call it here. The name Torino
actually means 'little bull' in Italian.
Torino is the host of the 2006 Winter Olympic
Games. Torino was chosen as the host of the
Olympics in 1999, defeating Sion in Switzerland
by 53 votes to 36. To prepare for the Olympics
there was a great amount of construction in
Torino. They built stadiums, ski lifts, roads, and
even a new subway system. The Linea 1 line of
the subway system was completed on February
4, 2006, just in time for the Olympics.
Torino is a major industrial city in north-western
Italy. It is surrounded on the western and
northern sides by the Alps. In 1861, Torino
became the capital of the new Italy. In 1865 the
capital was then moved to Florence. Then in
1870 Rome became the Italian capital and has
been it ever since.
One of Torino's main symbols is the Mole
Antonelliana, which hosts the National Cinema
Museum of Italy. There is also the Cathedral of
St. John the Baptist, which keeps the Shroud of
Turin. The Shroud of Turin is an old linen cloth
that has the image of a man on it. Some believe
it is the cloth that covered Jesus Christ after he
had died. Many say that this cloth was placed
over his face and that his image was somehow
imprinted on it.
