Description
The Basilica of Mary Help of Christians is the great church that Don Bosco wanted in Valdocco, the Turin neighborhood where the Salesian work began. The saint rests here, and all around, his work is still very much alive.
Around it stands a whole Salesian complex, with schools, courtyards and youth centers still full of kids. The church, consecrated in 1868 and enlarged in the 1930s, has a Latin-cross plan and a dome that rises high above the neighborhood.
The façade echoes Palladio's San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice. It is more than decoration: on the left, reliefs and statues recall the Battle of Lepanto in 1571, on the right the return of Pope Pius VII from his Napoleonic captivity, two moments tied to devotion to Mary Help of Christians.
Inside, the polychrome marbles chosen by Michele Rua, Don Bosco's first successor, cover the walls. Above the high altar hangs the large painting of Mary Help of Christians by Tommaso Lorenzone, commissioned by the saint himself; the dome was frescoed by Giuseppe Rollini.
Along the right side of the nave stands the monumental altar of Saint John Bosco, which holds his remains. Opposite, the chapel of Saint Joseph is the only one left as the founder wanted it: in the painting, at the bottom, you can see the newly built basilica.
It all began under a shed. In 1846 Don Bosco rented Francesco Pinardi's shed to take in the poor, jobless boys he met at Porta Palazzo. The Pinardi Shed is still there, absorbed into the porticoes behind the church.
Where to build the sanctuary, according to tradition, was shown to him by Our Lady in person. The spot is marked in the crypt, the Chapel of the Relics, where Rua and other successors of the saint are also buried.
And the golden statue on top of the dome, the work of Camillo Boggio? Curiously, it does not depict Mary Help of Christians, but Our Lady of Mercy, venerated in Savona.
Around it stands a whole Salesian complex, with schools, courtyards and youth centers still full of kids. The church, consecrated in 1868 and enlarged in the 1930s, has a Latin-cross plan and a dome that rises high above the neighborhood.
The façade echoes Palladio's San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice. It is more than decoration: on the left, reliefs and statues recall the Battle of Lepanto in 1571, on the right the return of Pope Pius VII from his Napoleonic captivity, two moments tied to devotion to Mary Help of Christians.
Inside, the polychrome marbles chosen by Michele Rua, Don Bosco's first successor, cover the walls. Above the high altar hangs the large painting of Mary Help of Christians by Tommaso Lorenzone, commissioned by the saint himself; the dome was frescoed by Giuseppe Rollini.
Along the right side of the nave stands the monumental altar of Saint John Bosco, which holds his remains. Opposite, the chapel of Saint Joseph is the only one left as the founder wanted it: in the painting, at the bottom, you can see the newly built basilica.
It all began under a shed. In 1846 Don Bosco rented Francesco Pinardi's shed to take in the poor, jobless boys he met at Porta Palazzo. The Pinardi Shed is still there, absorbed into the porticoes behind the church.
Where to build the sanctuary, according to tradition, was shown to him by Our Lady in person. The spot is marked in the crypt, the Chapel of the Relics, where Rua and other successors of the saint are also buried.
And the golden statue on top of the dome, the work of Camillo Boggio? Curiously, it does not depict Mary Help of Christians, but Our Lady of Mercy, venerated in Savona.