The "Mole Antonelliana:" Turin's Landmark Tower, Turin's Jews, Martin Scorsese, And The Fibonacci Numbers All Rolled Into One

That's a mouthful, huh?  Well, this building -- which I'd never heard of before -- is fascinating on several levels.

For starters, the Mole Antonelliana is Torino's most iconic structure.  It is a huge and beautiful building that has an amazing history and that was the inspiration for the symbol of the 2006 Winter Olympics that Torino hosted.  The Mole Antonelliana is so tall -- and the streets around it are so narrow -- that it's difficult to get the whole thing in pictures.  But the design is beautiful, especially at night.

The end product, however, is just part of the story.  The Mole Antonelliana's history is stupendous too.  When construction began in 1863, the Mole Antonelliana was going to be Torino's synagogue.  Jews achieved full civil rights in Torino in 1848.  By 1860, the city was Italy's capital.  The Jewish community in Torino wanted to celebrate its emancipation with a synagogue that befitted the city's capital status.  They therefore hired renowned architect Alessandro Antonelli to build their synagogue.

The relationship soon went south.  Antonelli kept building higher and higher, and he kept exceeding the Jewish community's budget.  The city eventually bought the property from the Jews, and Antonelli eventually finished his masterpiece.

Since 2000, the Mole Antonelliana has had another role.  It houses the Museo Nazionale del Cinema (National Museum of Cinema).  This is a pretty good museum of cinematic history.  I had mixed feelings about it.  On the one hand, the exhibits look great and the treatment of actual movie history is darn good.  For my taste, though, there is way too much geek stuff on the science of film going back into the 1800s.  Others might like that kind of stuff.  (I'm speaking to the patent lawyers among you.....)

But, then there are the temporary exhibitions, including the one that is ending now: a very comprehensive exhibit dedicated to the works of Martin Scorsese.  One word: wow!  This was awesome.  There were loads of incredible on-location photos from all of Scorsese's films going way way back into the '60s.  There were some really interesting letters and notes relating to Scorsese's early correspondence with studios, etc.  There were screens playing short bits of more than a dozen Scorsese movies.  Interviews with Scorsese about his family history in Sicily and then NYC.  Anecdotal photos and documents about Scorsese's place in pop culture and film history.  Etc., etc.  And it's all done in quite a polished style.
 

Working with Leonardo on The Departed

With the Stones

From the night when Scorsese won his only Best Director Oscar, for The Departed

So, I was already thinking that this Mole Antonelliana was just downright superb.  How could it get any better?  Here's how.  When doing some research yesterday, I read that one side of the stratospheric tower has a vertical column of the Fibonacci numbers lit up in red at night.  Unbelievable, right?!?!?  Just do a Google search for "mole antonelliana fibonacci" and look at the "Images" it yields.  You'll see what I mean.  I tell you that, when I read this, I thought that this whole awesome landmark was put on Earth for me.  I mean, I thought I'd go over there and see a bunch of Dalmatians wandering around, and hear the dulcet tones of Manilow being piped in over the sound system!

Not so much.  I don't know what's going on, but I went down to the Mole Antonelliana both last night and tonight.  There ain't no red numbers on any side of the spire.  I'll have to do further research to find out what happened.

Doesn't change the conclusion, however.  This is a wonderful site if you're ever in Torino.  Oh, and I almost forgot to mention what for many people is actually the highlight.  You can take a super fast and sleek elevator up to the top.  You get very good views of the entire city.