Mole Antonelliana

Today the Mole houses the celebrated Museo Nazionale del Cinema, one of the most innovative film museums in the world, drawing hundreds of thousands of visitors every year. The museum traces cinema from its pre-cinematic origins to the present day through an extraordinary route that unfolds within the great elliptical hall and along the helical ramp wrapping the structure.

But the Mole is not just a museum: it is an all-round experience. The internal panoramic lift carries visitors up to the terrace at 85 metres, offering a 360-degree view over the snow-capped Alps, the city's red rooftops and the Turin hills, where architecture, culture and landscape merge in an unforgettable embrace.

A century-and-a-half-long story

The story of the Mole Antonelliana is one of the most fascinating and troubled in nineteenth-century Italian architecture. Alessandro Antonelli began work in 1863 on commission from the Jewish Community of Turin, aiming to build a monumental synagogue. However, costs spiralled dramatically and the structure grew far beyond its original intentions, so much so that in 1878 the Municipality of Turin decided to buy the unfinished building and turn it into a secular temple dedicated to the homeland.

Antonelli never saw his work completed: he died in 1888 and construction continued under his son Costanzo, who finished it in 1889. The metal spire crowning the Mole was added later and the structure reached its definitive height in 1905. A lightning strike severely damaged the spire in 1953, but it was faithfully rebuilt, returning to the city its unmistakable profile.

Throughout the twentieth century the Mole hosted various uses, until the inauguration of the National Cinema Museum in 2000, on the occasion of the Jubilee. Since then it has become one of the most visited cultural venues in Piedmont, consolidating its role as the beating heart of Turin's identity and an international showcase for Italian film culture.

The National Cinema Museum: a journey into the seventh art

The Museo Nazionale del Cinema is far more than a collection of memorabilia: it is a uniquely immersive experience designed to engage visitors of all ages in a continuous dialogue between the past and present of film language. The exhibition route unfolds across multiple levels inside the Mole's great elliptical hall, where audiovisual installations, historical objects, costumes, posters and pre-cinematic machines alternate in a captivating story.

Among the collection's most precious pieces are 17th- and 18th-century magic lanterns, phenakistoscopes, zoetropes and other optical devices that anticipated the invention of cinema. The section dedicated to early cinema preserves extremely rare films by the Lumière brothers and Georges Méliès, while the thematic galleries explore genres, stars, soundtracks and the mechanics of production. The Tempio hall, at the centre of the structure, houses a unique lounge installation: visitors can lie on tilted loungers and watch film clips projected on the ceiling, in a surreal and magical atmosphere.

The museum regularly organises temporary exhibitions, retrospectives, meetings with directors and actors, special screenings and educational workshops for schools. It is also a major venue during the Torino Film Festival, confirming its role as a cultural reference point for film studies and outreach.

The panoramic terrace: Turin at your feet

Climbing up to the panoramic terrace of the Mole Antonelliana is one of the most exciting experiences Turin has to offer. The panoramic lift, a glass cabin rising vertically through the heart of the structure, takes visitors up to 85 metres in just a few seconds, with a unique sense of levitation. Already during the ascent, the view of the museum's elliptical hall from above creates an extraordinary visual effect.

Once on the terrace, the panorama opens up spectacularly to a full 360 degrees: westward, the crown of the Alps with Monviso and Gran Paradiso stands out clearly on cloudless days; northward, the Turin hill with the Basilica of Superga; southward, the Po Valley fading into the horizon; and all around, the urban fabric of Turin with its tree-lined avenues, baroque squares and historic palace rooftops. It is the privileged vantage point for understanding the extraordinary urban geometry of the Savoy capital.

The viewpoint is particularly evocative at sunset, when the sun's warm light tints Turin's rooftops and Alpine peaks orange, or on cold winter days with snow on the mountains. Don't forget to bring a jacket: at the top the air is brisk in every season, and the magic of the landscape amply rewards any wait at the ticket office.