February 4, 2006
In northwestern Italy’s city of Turin, operations began for rapid transit station at the public square known as Piazza Gian Lorenzo Bernini. The station was one of 11 that constituted the inaugural segment of the Turin Metro, an automated public transportation system that is operated by the state-owned corporation Gruppo Torinese Trasporti. This segment was opened in time to accommodate people traveling to and from the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin later that month.
Bernini station and the piazza where it is located owe their shared name to a notable Italian painter, sculptor, painter, architect, and city planner. Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680) was a bona fide Renaissance man whose accomplishments included helping to develop and define the Baroque style of architecture.
The key features of Bernini station include decals that were created by Ugo Nespolo (born in 1941), who served as the artistic director for the Turin Metro. His decals adorning both platforms at Bernini station highlight not only Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s sculptures but also the Baroque styles of two key landmarks in Turin: Palazzo Carignano and the Chapel of the Holy Shroud.
The Turin Metro in its entirety now covers a total of 9.4 miles (15.1 kilometers). There are 23 stations altogether on this line.
Photo Credit: Pedro Nardi (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Pedro_Nardi) – licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en
For more information on the Turin Metro, please check out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turin_Metro
Transportation History 
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