#SerieA Road Trip Personal Blog Day 8, Paying Respects to Crosstown Rivals

As a Juventino who is not from Turin it's difficult to fully appreciate the rivalry with crosstown rivals AC Torino.

Perhaps this one is the least balanced crosstown derbies in Italy: Hellas-Chievo in Verona, Inter-Milan in Milan, Genoa-Sampdoria in Genoa, Roma-Lazio in Rome, can go either way in any given year. For the better part of the last 20 years Juventus-Torino is a derby that has gone one way: the bianconeri's. 

In fact, Torino hasn't even scored a goal in a derby in the last decade. This hasn't made a difference, however, with respect to the historical rivalry that exists between the two factions. As soon as you identify yourself as a Juventus fan, some granata fans will turn away or simply call you a "Gobbo di Merda" (shitty juventus fan - gobbo, hunchback, is a nickname for Juventus fans). 

I did attend the last derby in February 2014, and was able to gain an appreciation for the rivalry between the two sides. This time around in Turin I decided to visit some of AC Torino's most sacred grounds.

Superga

My first stop was at the Basilica of Superga, which sits atop a hill on the southern bank of the Po River.

The Basilica was erected by Prince Amedeo of Savoy in dedication to the Virgin Mary after the victory over the French in the Battle of Turin (1706), but to Torino fans and soccer fans all over, Superga was the site of a disastrous airplane crash on May 4, 1949 that destroyed the dreams of Italian soccer.

On its return flight from Lisbon where Torino played a friendly against Benfica, Fiat G.212 of Avio Linee Italiane airplane crashed into the rear wall of the Basilica due to poor visibility that forced the airplane to fly low. All 31 on board, including crew and journalists, died on impact. The Grande Torino (the "Great Torino") that had won four consecutive championships vanished tragically.

At the same time, the Italian national soccer team was also stricken out as nine of the players on board were regulars on the azzurri team that was to fly to Brazil a year later for the World Cup as defending champions.

Tombstone to commemorate the dead in the Superga disaster at the rear of the Basilica of Superga

AC Torino remembers its dead

Passengers who were on board that fateful flight are remembered

Museo Del Grande Torino

The day after I visited Superga I headed to the museum dedicated to the Grande Torino and of the granata legend.

"Tragedy lies not in death, but in forgetting. We do not forget"

The museum is run solely by volunteers, which is why it's open only on the weekend.

I took two buses (about 1 hour's travel) to reach my destination in the Turinese suburb of Grugliasco.

Upon arriving at the site, I was greeted by three very nice people, who upon learning that I was visiting from Toronto, gave me two DVDs as a gift. I immediately understood and appreciated the meaning of "cuore granata".

The five Euro entrance couldn't do this experience justice. Not to mention that the tour - unlike the Juventus tour - is guided by people truly passionate about the history of AC Torino, on a volunteer basis to boot!

The remains of the propeller of the airplane that crushed il Grande Torino

Stands at the old Filadelfia Stadium in which Torino never lost (tied only 11 of the 96 games played there)

For over two hours, a gentleman named Daniele led me through the museum which is housed in a building from the 1600s, and will soon be moved to a new location that will mark the fulcrum of the Torino fandom which will be located on the site of the old Filadelfia, which will be rebuilt to include a new field (where presumably the primavera will play) and AC Torino's headquarters.

Above are the jerseys of the teams that il Grande Torino faced in those fateful days of May 1949: the game tied vs. Inter on May 1, 1949 gave them their fourth consecutive scudetto; the match played in Lisbon against Benfica on May 3 right before the crash, and the game played against River Plate to honour the dead.

I entered the museum of the Grande Torino with immense respect for my team's crossrivals. I left with a little bit of granata in my heart.