Description
The Turin Cathedral, dedicated to St. John the Baptist, stands on Piazza San Giovanni, next to the ruins of the Roman theater. It houses the Shroud of Turin and has a white marble facade: it is the only Renaissance religious building in the city.
The exterior is sober, almost severe, with three portals and a Romanesque bell tower beside it. Inside, three aisles on a Latin-cross plan, with side chapels enriched a little in every century. It is a visit for anyone looking for the oldest Turin and the stories of the House of Savoy.
The real draw lies behind the choir: the Chapel of the Shroud by Guarino Guarini, with its dome reopened to the public in 2018. The dome's marbles go from black to ever lighter toward the top, an effect that impressed visitors already when it was finished, in 1694.
Beneath the Royal Tribune, in a case that keeps it lying flat in a controlled atmosphere, rests the Shroud: the linen is shown to the faithful only at the great public exhibitions.
In the second chapel on the right is the polyptych of Saints Crispin and Crispinian by Giovanni Martino Spanzotti, once attributed to Defendente Ferrari. On the inside of the facade hangs the copy of Leonardo's Last Supper commissioned by Charles Albert: painted in 1835 by Luigi Cagna, it weighs over 900 kilos.
Outside, the bell tower of Sant'Andrea is older than the cathedral and was raised by 12 meters by Filippo Juvarra in 1720. Beneath the church, restoration brought to light an underground church as big as the one above, now the Diocesan Museum.
Easter Sunday, 662. The Lombard duke of Turin, Garibaldo, enters the church of San Giovanni, convinced he has gotten away with a betrayal. During Mass, a man of the betrayed king strikes him from behind.
That church no longer exists, but the spot is the same. Three early Christian churches once stood here: between 1490 and 1492 all three were pulled down to make room for something new.
In 1491 the regent Bianca of Montferrat laid the first stone of the cathedral wanted by Bishop Domenico Della Rovere and entrusted to the Tuscan Meo del Caprino. It was consecrated in 1505, and it is Turin's only Renaissance cathedral.
On the night between April 11 and 12, 1997, a fire destroyed much of Guarini's chapel. Firefighters carried the Shroud to safety, and it has had a new case ever since.
Don't miss
• The Chapel of the Shroud.
• Guarini's dome.
• Spanzotti's polyptych.
• The bell tower of Sant'Andrea.
Did you know?
• Only the inside of the facade could hold the copy of Leonardo's Last Supper, which weighs over 900 kilos.
• Beneath the cathedral lies an underground church as big as the one above.
The exterior is sober, almost severe, with three portals and a Romanesque bell tower beside it. Inside, three aisles on a Latin-cross plan, with side chapels enriched a little in every century. It is a visit for anyone looking for the oldest Turin and the stories of the House of Savoy.
The real draw lies behind the choir: the Chapel of the Shroud by Guarino Guarini, with its dome reopened to the public in 2018. The dome's marbles go from black to ever lighter toward the top, an effect that impressed visitors already when it was finished, in 1694.
Beneath the Royal Tribune, in a case that keeps it lying flat in a controlled atmosphere, rests the Shroud: the linen is shown to the faithful only at the great public exhibitions.
In the second chapel on the right is the polyptych of Saints Crispin and Crispinian by Giovanni Martino Spanzotti, once attributed to Defendente Ferrari. On the inside of the facade hangs the copy of Leonardo's Last Supper commissioned by Charles Albert: painted in 1835 by Luigi Cagna, it weighs over 900 kilos.
Outside, the bell tower of Sant'Andrea is older than the cathedral and was raised by 12 meters by Filippo Juvarra in 1720. Beneath the church, restoration brought to light an underground church as big as the one above, now the Diocesan Museum.
Easter Sunday, 662. The Lombard duke of Turin, Garibaldo, enters the church of San Giovanni, convinced he has gotten away with a betrayal. During Mass, a man of the betrayed king strikes him from behind.
That church no longer exists, but the spot is the same. Three early Christian churches once stood here: between 1490 and 1492 all three were pulled down to make room for something new.
In 1491 the regent Bianca of Montferrat laid the first stone of the cathedral wanted by Bishop Domenico Della Rovere and entrusted to the Tuscan Meo del Caprino. It was consecrated in 1505, and it is Turin's only Renaissance cathedral.
On the night between April 11 and 12, 1997, a fire destroyed much of Guarini's chapel. Firefighters carried the Shroud to safety, and it has had a new case ever since.
Don't miss
• The Chapel of the Shroud.
• Guarini's dome.
• Spanzotti's polyptych.
• The bell tower of Sant'Andrea.
Did you know?
• Only the inside of the facade could hold the copy of Leonardo's Last Supper, which weighs over 900 kilos.
• Beneath the cathedral lies an underground church as big as the one above.