bull fountains

Small green fountains with the bull head - toret in the local dialect, are one of the Turin's symbols together with Mole Antonelliana and gianduiotti chocolates.

To the residents torets and bull emblems are truly a synonym of Torino (yes, bull) and they keep their cultural uniqueness despite sharing the analogy with corrida and Spain.

Italians call Turin: Torino, a name given by the Romans back in the 1 A.C. when they got up here to extend their dominion. 

Torino is actually short of (Civitas) Augusta Taurinorum or "city founded by the emperor Augustus inhabited by the Gauls (Asterix's neighbors) of the Taurini tribe".

The Taurini tribe was a Celtic popultion who lived on the mountains and raised bulls. This is the origin of our city name and how its meaning quickly became its logo: a bull.

Above a door in Via Garibaldi 

Toret literally means little bull because these green fountains are small in size and spread all over the city to allow many public quenching opportunities.  

They are made in cast iron or stone, and the first toret was installed in 1862. Today, we have about 800 of these green bull fountains all around the city and you can still see them when strolling downtown, in gardens and in the market areas.

In Piazza Bernini in 2013

Originally, the water they spitted came directly from Pian della Mussa where the water is so pure that even NASA flies it in the outer space and the Chinese import it! Unfortunately today they are connected to the city water main that blends the spring water with the artesian water and a fraction of purified water from the Po river in Turin.

Golden bull and deer fountain in Venaria (suburb)

Residents particularly cherish these tiny bull fountains because they are linked to childhood memories, specific moments in their lives (everybody really drinks from them!!) and above all, they are just too cute!!

Since 2011 there is even iToret the iPhone app to locate the closest toret to you and since 2012 people can adopt a toret through www.ilovetoret.it

Via San Tommaso

Now you know it: when planning your trip over to Turin, adopt a toret and download iToret on your smartphone so that when you finally get over here, you know where to refill your water bottle, take a selfie and what to look for as a souvenir besides chocolates and wines 😎

To live our vidaroyal, plan your trip with us: turinepi@gmail.com