About the Basilica di Superga:
In 1706, when the city of Turin was under siege by the French-Spanish army,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. After a battle in which the enemy army was defeated, and the town was freed, 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 altar’s paintings and the dome, inspired to the roman works by Francesco Borromini.
The wooden sculpture of the “Madonna delle Grazie”, in front of which Vittorio Amedeo II kneeled and asked for the grace to defeat the French army, is inside in the “Vow Chapel”.
The Basilica is managed by the Servants of Mary, who still reside inside the convent.
Finding the Basilica di Superga in Turin:
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.
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