The history of Turin begins 500 years before the birth of Jesus Christ, when the Taurini, a Ligurian Celtic tribe, settled where the Po river meets the Doire. They chose this river plain which presented the ideal conditions: it was fertile and its position was strategic. In effect, several centuries later, the Romans made it a fundamental lookout base towards the Alps border. Thus in 1 BC, Augusta Taurinorum was born, structured in its classical Roman camp layout which today still remains the most obvious aspect of the town's urbanistic structure. Following the collapse of the Roman empire, Turin saw a long period of decadence caused by the passage of destructive hordes of barbarians. Then came the dynasty of Savoy who would govern the town and the state for more than 8 centuries. It was only with Emmanuel Philibert that Turin regained its importance. The Duke from the House of Savoy took the historic decision in 1563 to make Turin the capital of the Duchy. From this moment on, the still limited town inside the Roman ramparts, began to grow and become important: the capital for three centuries and also the first capital in Italy for almost four years, when in 1861, Victor Emmanuel II of Savoy was proclaimed the first King of Italy. Between the XIXth and XXth centuries, the industrial vocation of Turin was established. The town saw pioneering centres for modern industry spring up, starting with the FIAT, the large automotive factory founded in 1899. Turin however also saw the birth of the cinema industry (the first blockbuster in the history of cinema, Cabiria, was made in the Turin studios) and radio.. The town in which the great automotive industry was born today retains its pre-eminence in the automotive, components and car design sectors, to which over time, robotics, industrial automation, aerospace production, satellite systems production and rail vehicle manufacturing have been added with time. The town heads for the third millennium however also, and mainly, as a technological area, a centre for research and development, devoted to information technology and telecommunications.   Source : Turismo Torino