
The Basilica della Madonna Consolata (
English: ''The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Consolation'') is a
Roman Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
minor
basilica and
Marian shrine in central
Turin
Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...
,
Piedmont
Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...
,
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
. Located on the intersection of Via Consolata and Via Carlo Ignazio Giulio, the shrine is dedicated to the
Blessed Virgin Mary under the title of
Our Lady of Consolation.
Pope Pius X granted a pontifical coronation towards the venerated icon of ''Madonna della Consolata'' on 18 June 1904. The same pontiff raised the shrine to the status of
minor basilica by
Pontifical Decree on 7 April 1906.
History
The
Benedictine Order
The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly Christian mysticism, contemplative Christian monasticism, monastic Religious order (Catholic), order of the Catholic Church for men and f ...
were the first monastic order to settle in this location. A church at the site, probably dedicated to the
Blessed Virgin Mary, stood adjacent to the ancient
Roman walls of the city. It is held that in the 5th century, Bishop Maximus erected a church dedicated to
Saint Andrew with a small chapel to the Virgin with an icon. The icon, however, became the object of great veneration.
In 929 AD,
Adalbert I of Ivrea ordered the construction of a monastery and endowed it with some territories. The
Romanesque bell tower dates to about this time, and was built next to the foundation of one of the corner turrets of the old Roman fort which later became Turin.
Pious legends from the twelfth century claim that a blind traveling pilgrim had his vision restored by the icon during a
Marian apparition of the Virgin inside the church. Inside the shrine, ex votos document centuries of miracles attributed to the Virgin.
During the reign of
Duke of Savoy,
Charles Felix of Sardinia, the
Cistercian Oblates dedicated to the Marian icon of this title crowned the image on their own accord on 20 June 1829.
The Marquise of Savona, Delfina Gavotti was a patroness of the shrine in the early turn of 20th century, having appeared in the list of patrons of the shrine literature ''Missioni Consolata'' published in August 1901. Accordingly, she procured the
Bambino Gesu of Arenzano.
Pope Pius X granted a decree of Pontifical coronation towards the image on 18 June 1904. Its ensemble of twenty-four stars was donated by former Queen of Italy,
Margherita of Savoy while the rest of its regalia were donated from the princes of Savoy and noble ladies of Turin. The decree was granted to and executed by the Prefect of the
Sacred Congregation of the Index, Cardinal
Vincenzo Vannutelli in a public religious event. A grand total of six Cardinals attended the rite of coronation, including Cardinal
Giulio Boschi (Ferrara),
Giuseppe Callegari (Padua),
Alfonso Capecelatro (Capua),
Andrea Carlo Ferrari (Milan), and
Domenico Svampa (Bologna).
The shrine was bombed by the
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...
of Britain on 13 August 1943.
["Santuario della Consolata", Museo Torino](_blank)
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Pope Francis
Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...
gifted the Golden Rose to the shrine on occasion of its historical relationship with the Holy Shroud of Turin in 21 June 2015.
Architecture
The church was originally built in the style of a basilica. Over the years the church and the icon of Our Lady of Consolation were rebuilt respectively restored by various religious orders. In 1448 the prior of Sant'Andrea expanded the church building one bay to the west. With the increased popularity of devotion to Our Lady of Consolation, the church changed from a parish to a shrine.[
The first major reconstruction leading to the present church was commissioned in 1678 by Marie Jeanne Baptiste of Savoy-Nemours. Architect Guarino Guarini and engineer Antonio Bertola created the elliptical shape of the church nave, and added a new hexagonal chapel on the north side to accommodate the venerated icon of Mary.][
The architect Filippo Juvarra in 1729—1740 added the North presbytery, thus creating a church with two apparent axis: a main altar on the east, while retaining the famed icon as a chapel to the north. This period also saw the decoration of the dome by Giovanni Battista Crosato.
]
The neoclassical facade, portico, and burial crypt on the south–north axis date from 1845 to 1860 with contributions by Pietro Anselmetti; further additions were made in 1899—1904 under the guidance of Carlo Ceppi.
The interior has a jubilantly polychrome rococo decoration with colored marbles and solomonic columns. The Juvarra altar has two marble angels in adoration by Carlo Antonio Tantardini. The interior has a sculpture of two praying queens by Vincenzo Vela. Outside the church is a statue of a virgin and child on a column.
The church serves as a burial place for a number of saints affiliated with Turin: Giuseppe Cafasso and Leonardo Murialdo, as well as the Blessed Giuseppe Allamano, rector (1880—1926) and founder of the Mission Institute of the Consolata. Every June 20, a procession of the icon of the Virgin takes place in the streets of the city.[Official website of the sanctuary]
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The church is an eclectic collection of architecture, and includes portions of an ancient Roman wall, a Romanesque bell-tower, a baroque
The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...
set of domes, almost Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...
, sheltering a gothic icon, with two porticos, one of which has Neoclassic severity. The clashing of Guarini's and Juvarra's often mathematical architecture with the highly decorated interior, stubbornly magnetic to a ritualistic popular piety, leads to a modern synthesis with immanent overtones.
References
{{Authority control
Consolata
Baroque architecture in Turin
Roman Catholic churches in Turin
Guarino Guarini buildings