Mole Antonelliana and Turin’s vertical landmark

Mole Antonelliana rises above Turin in brick and glass, a landmark whose profile still defines the city’s skyline.

Mole Antonelliana rises above Turin as a brick landmark with a sharply vertical profile. Planned by Alessandro Antonelli and completed in 1889, it remains one of the city’s defining buildings.

Alessandro Antonelli’s rising silhouette

The building was begun in 1863 and stands at 167.5 metres, a height that placed it among Europe’s tallest brick structures when it was finishedcompleted in 1889. Its name comes from Antonelli, whose work also reshaped the skyline in Novara at San Gaudenzio.

The massing is unmistakable: a broad base, a high central body and a needle-like summit. The building’s height and masonry make it read less like a conventional civic block and more like a monument turned upright.

From synagogue project to museum landmark

The building began as a synagogue project for the Jewish community of Turin and later passed to the Municipality of Turin. It was completed in its present form after the city took over the work, and that history still sits behind the structure’s unusual scaleAlessandro Antonelli.

Since 2000 it has housed the Museo Nazionale del Cinema, making the interior use as distinctive as the exterior outline. A building once associated with one faith and then with civic ambition now contains cinema history inside its shell.

Brick, height and the Turin skyline

The form is notable for its height in relation to its base and for the steep sweep of the central volume. The final summit, crowned after Antonelli’s death, gives the whole composition a pointed finish that is visible across the city.

That profile has made the Mole an easy landmark to place within Turin’s urban fabric. It also appears on the Italian 2 cent coin, which shows how fully the building has entered national visual cultureItalian 2 euro cent coin.

Visiting Mole Antonelliana: what travellers from Western Europe should know

• The building stands in central Turin, within reach of the city’s historic streets and public transport network. It is closely associated with the Museo Nazionale del Cinema.
• The upper parts are reached either by lift or on foot. The interior route to the dome involves a substantial climb through the structure.
• The whole monument is made of brick, with a later metal summit element above the main body. That contrast between masonry and lighter upper construction is part of its profile.
• The building’s outline is easy to recognise from several parts of the city. Its height makes it a strong visual marker in Turin’s centre.

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Frequently asked questions about Mole Antonelliana

Where is Mole Antonelliana?

It stands in Turin, in north-western Italy, and it is one of the city’s most recognisable landmarks. The building forms part of the Museo Nazionale del Cinema.

What does a visit involve?

The interior combines museum space with access to the building’s upper levels. Visitors can move through the monument itself rather than seeing it only from outside.

What makes it distinctive?

Its extraordinary height, brick construction and narrow summit give it a profile unlike the ordinary city block. The building also carries a layered history, from synagogue project to cinema museum.