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Basilica di Superga

Baroque basilica designed by Filippo Juvarra on the hill of Superga, built as a votive church by Victor Amadeus II after the 1706 siege and the burial place of the House of Savoy.

Image from the publication of ANSA Piemonte
From the publication of ANSA Piemonte, 2026-09-25

The Basilica of Superga is the baroque church that crowns the hill of Superga, on the hillside east of Turin, at 669 metres above sea level[1]. It was built on the orders of Victor Amadeus II in fulfilment of a vow made during the siege of Turin of 1706, and designed by Filippo Juvarra[2][3]. A votive temple and dynastic mausoleum at once, it holds in its crypt the tombs of the House of Savoy; since 4 May 1949 it has also been the place where the city remembers the Grande Torino[3][4][2].

The vow of 1706

In the summer of 1706 the French army was besieging the Savoy capital. From the top of the hill, Victor Amadeo II watched the movements of the besiegers and promised to raise a church there if his troops succeeded in repelling them[2]. Victory came, and the basilica was dedicated to the Virgin in memory of that military success[2]. The press, too, retelling the story, describes it as an act of thanksgiving to the Madonna for the defeat of the French besieging the city[5].

Juvarra's building site

Juvarra, who had just entered the service of the Savoys, received the commission among his first works in Turin, in the same years in which he was designing the facades of the twin churches of Piazza San Carlo[3]. The Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani dates the design to 1715 and the construction to 1727-31; the Treccani encyclopaedia gives the years 1717-1731 for the building[3][1]. The inauguration took place on 1 November 1731[2].

The choice of the site was not purely devotional. According to the Dizionario Biografico, the basilica stands on the extension of the ideal sightline linking the Castle of Rivoli and the Porta Susina of Turin: Superga thus becomes the endpoint of an axis that crosses the whole plain[3]. In its architectural language, scholars recognise references to Roman culture, from Michelangelo to Carlo Fontana, and similarities with the design Juvarra had presented in 1707 to the Accademia di San Luca[3].

The building has a circular plan, preceded by a pronaos, and is covered by a dome raised on a tall drum; two wings with bell towers extend on either side[1]. The altars hold reliefs by Bernardino Cametti and Agostino Cornacchini[1]. Behind the church stands the convent, also designed by Juvarra[1].

The tombs of the Savoys

The underground burial crypt was begun in 1774 on the orders of Victor Amadeus III, to a design by Francesco Martinez[1]. It holds the kings and princes of Savoy from Victor Amadeus II to Charles Albert[4]: in all around twenty members of the family, including the sovereigns Victor Amadeus II, Charles Emmanuel III, Victor Amadeus III, Victor Emmanuel I and Charles Albert, buried here in 1849[5]. The side chapels hold the monuments of Victor Amadeus II (1778) and Charles Emmanuel III (1788), as well as those dedicated to Maria Adelaide of Austria and Maria Vittoria of Aosta[4].

The funerary monuments are the work of sculptors from three schools: Piedmontese, such as Ignazio and Filippo Collino, Giovan Battista Bernero and Pietro Della Vedova; Genoese, such as Santo Varni; and Tuscan, such as Agostino Cornacchini and Carlo Finelli[4]. The crypt still receives burials of the family: Vittorio Emanuele di Savoia, son of the last king, who died in February 2024, was interred in a strictly private ceremony in the royal crypt after his funeral in Turin Cathedral and the lying-in-state in the church of Sant'Uberto at the Reggia di Venaria[6].

4 May 1949

At 5.03 pm on 4 May 1949, the aircraft bringing the Torino team back from Lisbon, after a friendly match, crashed into the retaining wall of the basilica[7]. In the Superga air disaster, the players, coaches and officials of the Grande Torino died, along with journalists and crew members[7]. Ever since, the hill has been a place of pilgrimage for the team's supporters[2].

Every year, on 4 May, Torino supporters climb the hill in pilgrimage: at 5.03 pm, the hour of the crash, a mass is celebrated and, in front of the monument dedicated to the Invincibili, the Torino captain reads out the names of the dead. In 2024 about two thousand supporters climbed to Superga, and the names were read by Duvan Zapata[8].

Superga today

In August 2021, Archbishop Cesare Nosiglia entrusted the basilica to Sermig, Ernesto Olivero's Arsenale della Pace, after 57 years in which it had been run by the Servites[9]. Nosiglia explained the choice as a wish to leave this heritage of the city to a Turin-based body[9]:

"The basilica of Superga represents a very important and frequently visited point of reference for all the people of Turin"

Cesare Nosiglia, Archbishop of Turin, 2021

On 11 July 2024 a protocol signed by the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Infrastructure, the State Property Agency, the Piedmont Region and the City of Turin, in the presence of the Fraternita della Speranza of Sermig, which manages the complex, allocated 15 million euros, 9 million from the Ministry of Tourism and 6 million from the Ministry of Culture, for the period 2024-2026[10]. The funds are intended for the restoration of the most valuable rooms, accessibility improvements throughout the site, the cataloguing and digitisation of the royal library, an interactive museum route and better connections to the hill[10]. The president of the Region, Alberto Cirio, called Superga "one of the symbolic places of Turin, because it looks down on the city and preserves the memory of fundamental events in its history"[10].

Besides the church and the royal tombs, the king's apartment and the climb to the dome can be visited for a fee[4]. The hill can also be reached on foot, along paths through the hillside woods[2].

The 7.6-million-euro restoration plan (2026)

In September 2026, a 7.6-million-euro restoration and development plan for the Basilica of Superga got under way: 6 million euros allocated by the Ministry of Culture and 1.6 million by the Consulta per la Valorizzazione dei Beni Artistici e Culturali di Torino, implementing the memorandum of understanding signed in 2024 between the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, the State Property Agency, the Piedmont Region, the Metropolitan City of Turin and the City of Turin, with the participation of Sermig, which manages the complex. The first two lots cover the pronaos with its podium and the upper forecourts, with the restoration of the damaged Gassino marble elements.

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The 7.6-million-euro restoration plan (September 2026)

On 25 September 2026 a 7.6-million-euro restoration and development plan for the Basilica of Superga got under way, of which 6 million euros were allocated by the Ministry of Culture and 1.6 million by the Consulta per la Valorizzazione dei Beni Artistici e Culturali di Torino, implementing the 2024 memorandum of understanding between the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, the State Property Agency, the Piedmont Region, the Metropolitan City and the City of Turin, with the participation of Sermig, which manages the complex. The first two lots cover the pronaos with its podium and the upper forecourts, and include the restoration of the Gassino marble elements and the removal of inappropriate plasterwork; the Soprintendenza is the contracting authority and the Consulta is responsible for design and site management, on a timeline looking to 2030. Also under way, with the support of the Compagnia di San Paolo foundation, is the construction of a lift platform on the north side of the basilica for accessibility, while an agreement with the Piedmont Region allocates one million euros to the roofing of the convent wing designed by Filippo Juvarra. About 800,000 people reach the hill of Superga every year.

The 7.6-million-euro restoration plan (2026-2030)

In parallel, a lift platform is being built on the north side of the Basilica, supported by the Compagnia di San Paolo foundation, while an agreement with the Piedmont Region gives the Consulta one million euros for the roofing of the convent wing designed by Filippo Juvarra.

A 7.6-million-euro restoration plan (September 2026)

A 7.6-million-euro restoration plan for the Basilica of Superga, funded by the Ministry of Culture and by the Consulta per la Valorizzazione dei Beni Artistici e Culturali di Torino, has entered a more defined phase, with the works to be completed by 2030.

A 7.6-million-euro restoration plan (September 2026)

Timeline

  • — A 7.6-million-euro restoration plan for the Basilica of Superga, funded by the Ministry of Culture and by the Consulta per la Valorizzazione dei Beni Artistici e Culturali di Torino, has entered a more defined phase, with the works to be completed by 2030. → Torino Free

Related articles: Carlo Alberto, Filippo Juvarra, Grande Torino, House of Savoy, Superga air disaster, Vittorio Amedeo II

Sources

  1. Treccani
  2. Italia.it (ENIT)
  3. Treccani — Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani
  4. Touring Club Italiano
  5. Il Mattino — 4 February 2024
  6. Sky TG24 — 4 February 2024
  7. Treccani
  8. Toro News — 4 May 2024
  9. ANSA — 2 August 2021
  10. Regione Piemonte — 11 July 2024
  11. ANSA Piemonte — 25 September 2026
  12. CronacaQui Torino
  13. Torino Free — 27 September 2026

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