Highlights of Turin & Egyptian Museum skip the line with a private guide

The Egyptian Museum of Turin - the world's first Egyptian Museum, second in importance only to the Cairo Museum - houses about 300,000 finds, 26,000 of which are kept in warehouses for scientific research. Mummies, papyri and funerary finds of the great pharaohs make it an unmissable location for anyone visiting the city of Turin. The Museum of Egyptian Antiquities was founded in 1824 when King Carlo Felice purchased a large collection of Egyptian antiquities - from statues, sarcophagi and mummies to papyri, bronzes, amulets and everyday objects - initially put together by egyptologist Vitaliano Donati and later expanded by Bernardino Drovetti, Consul General of France in Egypt. Thanks to excavations conducted in Egypt in the late 19th century and in the 1930s, the collection continued to expand until it reached its extraordinary grandeur of today.

The prestigious Galleria San Federico is a place of passage, business and leisure, a home of timeless beauty, where the ancient rhythm of the past meets the frenzy of the present. For almost a century it has been home to luxury shops and representative offices, elegant bars and restaurants, the headquarters of the La Stampa newspaper and Juventus football club, as well as the historic Lux cinema. Now completely restored, Galleria San Federico has returned to its former splendour. A charm rich in memories that raises the bar for the future: an architectural jewel shining in a new light.

Piazza Carignano, built as an appendix of the Contrada Nuova cut, today Via Roma, is considered Turin's elegant living room: its project is due to Benedetto Alfieri, while Giovanni Battista Feroggio is responsible for its realisation, which took place around 1787. The Monument to Vincenzo Gioberti by Giovanni Albertoni, dated 1859, stands out in the centre of the square, where the Palazzo Carignano and the Teatro Carignano are located. Still in existence since 1757 is the Cambio restaurant, once frequented by Camillo Benso Count of Cavour and many Italian deputies of the kingdom.

The ancient little church of Santa Maria del Presepio was restored in 1563 and dedicated to San Lorenzo by Duke Emanuele Filiberto, to comply with a vow made during the Battle of San Quintino on 10 August 1557. The project for the construction of the present church, built on the pre-existing structure, was entrusted in 1666 to Guarino Guarini, who created one of his most significant works. In particular, the interior architecture and the dome were a turning point for Turin Baroque, while the high altar, an innovative masterpiece, is one of the most important in northern Italy. In place of the façade, designed by Guarini and never realised, the façade of a civil building was erected, so as not to distract people's attention from the Centre of Power, the nearby Ducal Palace.

Delimited by Pelagio Palagi's gate, which closes off Piazzetta Reale, the building was the residence of the Savoy family and the first king of Italy until 1865: it was then still used by the Royal Family until 1946. The 16th century layout was designed by Ascanio Vittozzi, followed by the other court architects Carlo and Amedeo di Castellamonte, Carlo Morello, who designed the façade, and Maurizio Valperga. Finally, Guarino Guarini was responsible for the final solution of the Chapel of the Holy Shroud, which started out as a palatine chapel. Starting from the first decades of the 18th century, first Filippo Juvarra and then Benedetto Alfieri deployed their art in the updating of the Royal Apartments. Juvarra was responsible for the spectacular Scala delle Forbici (Scissors Staircase) and the Gallery, then known as the Galleria della Regina (Queen's Gallery), which today houses the Royal Armoury.