About the Basilica di Superga:
In 1706, when the city of Turin was under siege by the French-Spanish army French during the War of the Spanish Succession, Duke Vittorio Amedeo II, one of the leaders of the defending army, made a pledge to Madonna delle Grazie in front of a statue in a small church at the top of a hill in Turin. The siege, which lasted from June to September, ended on September 7, 1706, when the Allied forces attacked and routed the besiegers at the Battle of the Sturain in which the enemy army was defeated, and the town was freed.
The defeat at Turin was a devastating setback for France and King Louis XIV, The victory allowed Victor Amadeus to re-enter his capital and recover most of his territory. It effectively ended the war in Italy and opened the way for the Allies to invade southern France.
Vittorio Amedeo kept his vow, assigning the construction of the Sanctuary to Court’s Architect Filippo Juvarra. The small pre-existing church was demolished and the hill was leveled some 18 feet in order to built the complex. In 1717 the Sanctuary’s first stone was laid down and the inauguration was fourteen years later, in 1731. The interior is enriched by six chapels, four altars and a Main Altar, decorated with sculptures and monuments in Carrara marble. Particularly interesting are the numerous paintings and the dome, in the style of Francesco Borromini.
The wooden sculpture of the “Madonna delle Grazie”, in front of which Vittorio Amedeo II knelt and asked for the grace to defeat the French army, is inside in the “Vow Chapel”.
The La Sala dei Papi (Hall of the Popes) has an extraordinary collection of portraits that tells the thousand-year history of the pontificate through art.
The Basilica is managed by the Servants of Mary, who still reside inside the convent.
Traveling to the Basilica di Superga in Turin:
To visit the Basilica di Superga from Turin’s city center, take tram 15 or bus 68/61 to the Sassi station, then board the historic Sassi-Superga rack railway to the top of the hill. Alternatively, you can drive to the basilica via the nearby parking lot or hike up from trails in the area.
Address: Strada Basilica di Superga 73 – 10132 (TO)
Tel: (+39) 011/8997456 Fax: (+39) 011/8903833
email: prenotazioni@basilicadisuperga.com
Click here for the official website of the Basilica di Superga in Turin.