What was the original capital of Italia? No, not Roma (Rome). When the modern state of Italia was formed in 1861 after the various wars of independence, Roma wasn't part of it and wouldn't be for almost 10 more years.

The driving force behind unification was the Royal House of Savoia (Savoy) under the leadership of Vittorio Emanuele II, King of Sardinia and Duke of Savoy (and later first King of Italia) whose power base was... Piemonte, and its capital city Torino.

Located in the far north west of the country and bordering France (from which the House of Savoia evolved), this land locked region also borders the Alps and Switzerland, as well as several other Italian regions. At 25,402 sq km (9,808 sq mi), it is second only to the region (and island) of Sicilia in size. With just over 4.3 million people, it is the 7th most populous region.

It is made up of 8 provinces. From north to south:
[*] Verbano-Cusio-Ossola (VB), a name doubtless chosen for maximum difficulty in both remembering its multiple components and pronouncing them together. That said it's a very attractive part of the world, with its eastern side running along a large stretch of Lago Maggiore until the last leg of the lake moves into Switzerland (and the former Italian region of Ticenio). The Swiss border continues inland north west before eventually moving south west, with the province being about 50km wide at its widest. It's home to some large national parkland, as well as the lakeside town of Stresa, once home to Ernest Hemingway as well as to us for days 16 to 19 of our trip.
[*] Vercelli (VC). This only sort of qualifies as second most north since it has an unusual shape, like someone squeezing a toothpaste tube from the middle. Most of it is south of the next two provinces but a small amount is "squeezed" out the top through a narrow strait which appears to be the top of a mountain range. It's landlocked, and from the satellite view it looks like the southern part of it is flatlands, while the bit sticking out in the north is in the mountains. I don't really know the province well, I'm afraid.
[*] Novara (NO): Nor do I know the one that squishes into VC from its eastern side. It's named for its main town (population about 105K) which sits in the south. In the north it takes in the most southerly part of the western shore of Lago Maggiore, before VB takes over. To the east and south, it bumps up against the neighbouring region of Lombardia.
[*] Biella (BI) I know even less about since it was formed only in 1992. It may well have been carved out of VC, which would explain the latter's shape and why VC makes up about 180 degrees of BI's circular-ish border, but don't quote me on that. The rest borders a bit of Val d'Aosta, and a chunk of the metro city of Torino (TO). Speaking of which...
[*] Metropolitan City of Turin (TO), home to the city of Torino (Turin). It's only the second largest province (but not by much), though it contains the overwhelming majority (about 2.3 million) of the population. It makes up a large part of the region's western border.
[*] Alessandria (AL) is a largely agricultural region. Travel web sites have remarkably little to say about the place but the general vibe is that you can get good food in any of the southern Piedmont probinces and this should be no exception. The province stretches out to the south east of the region, bordering Lombardia.
[*] Asti (AT). This sits sandwiched between TO, AL and CN below. The comments that I made about AL also apply here.
[*] Cuneo (CN). Now this is a different kettle of fish. This is the southernmost and largest (just) province, home to agriturismos, more wineries than you can shake a grape vine at, a wine museum, excellent hamburgers, and for day 19 to day 22, us in an agriturismo just outside the town of Alba. My friends Sofie and Paco live there, or at least I hope they still do. Being Labradors, I can't just call them to check.

At one time Piemonte was the heart of the Italian automotive industry; the "T" in the name Fiat stands for Torino. Unfortunately a lot of that has been lost but it still has a significant amount of industry. It also has some beautiful countryside, from mountainous lakes in the north to rolling vineyards and farms in the south.

The 2016 trip completely bypassed Piemonte but we spent a few days there in 2019, not least because I have a friend who lives there.