Among the most important in the world for the richness of its heritage and the multiplicity of its scientific and educational activities, the National Cinema Museum owes its uniqueness to the peculiarity of the exhibition set-up. Housed in the Mole Antonelliana, a symbolic monument of Turin, the Museum develops in an upward spiral, on several exhibition levels, giving life to a spectacular presentation of its extraordinary collections and retracing the history of cinema from its origins to the present day, in a suggestive interactive itinerary.
Starting from the rooms of the Mole, the Swiss scenographer François Confino has worked with ingenuity and imagination, multiplying the visits to create a spectacular presentation, which invests the visitor with continuous and unexpected visual and auditory stimuli, just as happens when we are witnessing the projection of a film capable of involving and moving.
MOLE ANTONELLIANA
Architectural symbol of the city of Turin, the Mole Antonelliana was initially conceived as a synagogue, before being purchased by the municipality to make it a monument to national unity.
The building was designed by Alessandro Antonelli, a well-known 19th century architect belonging to the Jewish faith, who was commissioned to design a new temple for the Israelites, including an internal school. Antonelli therefore tried to design a building structured by a large lower part to fulfill this dual function of a sacred and educational place and to complete the project with a square-based dome, in line with the architectural style of many other synagogues built. in Europe.
The construction of the building started following the authorization of the Royal Decree of 17 March 1863 and was partially completed within 6 years, with a height of about 70 meters. In 1873, when the Antonelliana mass became the property of the Municipality of Turin, Antonelli decided to add another floor, the so-called "Tempietto", thus rising to a height of 90 meters.
Almost one hundred meters high, the architect Antonelli decided to follow his initial project or to close the prestigious building with a pointed end in neo-Gothic style.
Taking its cue from the Basilica of San Gaudenzio in Novara, the height of the Antonellian mass reached 113 meters in 1887, thanks to the creation of a circular-shaped colonnade called the "Lantern".
The Antonellian mass continues its frenzied growth towards the sky. The architect Antonelli, shortly before his death, decided to complete the spire, built above the last structure of the "Lantern" as per the original project, first with a five-pointed star and then with a statue depicting the "Winged Genius", considered a symbol of the Savoy family.
The works were then followed by Antonelli's son and completed in 1889.
The Mole Antonelliana was inaugurated with a solemn ceremony that proudly involved the whole city of Turin as it became the tallest masonry building in Italy, Europe and the world until 1953, surpassed by the bell tower of the Cathedral of Ulm in Germany, high 161.53 meters.
In the twentieth century the monument of the Mole Antonelliana underwent several revisions in the face of adverse weather conditions. Under construction again, it returned to its former glory in 1960 with a new spire.
In 1961, on the occasion of the celebrations for the Centenary of the Unification of Italy, the Panoramic Lift was inaugurated which, renovated in 1999, still allows you to climb up to the temple, 85 meters high and admire the extraordinary view of the city and the surrounding Alps.
The Mole Antonelliana today has a height of 167.5 meters and is the seat of the Turin Cinema Museum.
CLIMB TO THE DOME
Unpublished guided tour of the architectural wonders and unseen places of the Mole Antonelliana.
A walking path that from the ground floor reaches the Panoramic Terrace at 85 m high, along the stairs of the cavity of the Dome.
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