Guglia Beccaria

Have you ever stood face to face with the past, right here in Piazza Statuto? Well, right in front of you stands the Guglia Beccaria, a curious obelisk dedicated to a remarkable man, Giovanni Battista Beccaria, a celebrated geophysicist and mathematician from Piedmont. Imagine yourself in the 18th century. Giovanni Battista Beccaria was commissioned by Carlo Emanuele III di Savoia to measure the meridian of Turin, a task as ambitious as it was intricate. The Guglia Beccaria marks one of the two points, the other one in Rivoli, that Beccaria used for his geometric-trigonometric calculations. Beccaria chose the meridian that crosses Piedmont from Andrate to Mondovì. The obelisk, an impressive 7.94 meters tall, was inaugurated in 1808, 27 years after Beccaria’s death, a lasting tribute to his scientific endeavors. Did you know that the obelisk stands practically exactly on the 45th parallel north? That means it’s equidistant from the Equator and the North Pole, approximately 5,000 km away from each one. The Guglia Beccaria is a hidden gem, standing tall amidst the green foliage of Piazza Statuto. It may not be as obvious as the great Mole Antonelliana, but its presence is a constant reminder of a time when scientific curiosity dared to explore the very fabric of our planet. So, remember, next time you visit Piazza Statuto, take a moment to appreciate this quiet sentinel. After all, it represents the unwavering ambition of a remarkable man who dared to measure the world.