Cathedral of San Giovanni Battista

The Cathedral of San Giovanni Battista, dedicated to Saint John the Baptist, is the Cathedral of Turin, located in the homonymous square, Piazza San Giovanni.

The Cathedral of San Giovanni Battista is famous for housing since 1578 the Holy Shroud of Turin.

SHORT HISTORY OF THE CATHEDRAL OF SAN GIOVANNI BATTISTA

In ancient times, the area in which the cathedral was later built housed three early Christian churches, dedicated to San Salvatore, Santa Maria di Dompno and San Giovanni Battista.

The one dedicated to San Giovanni Battista was consecrated during the time of the Lombard King Agilulf, at the end of the 6th or the beginning of the 7th century, when Saint John the Baptist was proclaimed patron of the Lombard kingdom.

The three churches were demolished between 1490 and 1492, and on July 22, 1941, the regent of Savoy, widow of Charles I, Blanche of Montferrat, laid the first stone of the future cathedral.

The construction of the cathedral was entrusted to Amedeo de Francisco da Settignano, who worked there until his death in 1501.

The work on the cathedral was completed in 1505, and the consecration took place on September 21 of the same year.

The project for the enlargement of the cathedral, with the aim of creating a worthy environment for the conservation of the Holy Shroud, dates back to 1649, when the architect Bernardino Quadri arrived in Turin at the court of Carlo Emanuele II.

In 1667, the architect Guarino Guarini was called to complete the enlargement of the cathedral and to erect the Chapel of the Holy Shroud. The dome, whose work lasted 28 years, was finished in 1694.

The external bell tower, dedicated to Sant’Andrea (Saint Andrew), was modified in 1720 by the architect Filippo Juvarra, who raised the tower by 12 meters, bringing the structure to a total height of 60 meters.

The precious monument of the Holy Shroud was seriously damaged by fire in the night between April 11 and 12, 1997. The Holy Relic, on the other hand, was brought to safety thanks to the work of the firefighters.

After the fire, the church underwent restoration of the facade and of the interior under the supervision of the architect Maurizio Momo. At the same time, the new Chapel of the Holy Shroud was built, in which the linen is kept in a controlled atmosphere.

ARCHITECTURE OF THE CATHEDRAL OF TURIN

The Cathedral of Turin is the only church in the city in Renaissance style. Outside, it has a Renaissance facade in white marble, with three gates, the main central one surmounted by a tympanum and flanked by two volutes.

On the left side of the cathedral, there is the bell tower in Romanesque style, built around 1470 and raised in 1720 by Juvarra.

Inside, the Cathedral of San Giovanni Battista has a Latin cross plan and is divided into three naves. The naves are almost 40 meters long, with the two lateral ones measuring 5.80 meters in width and the central one 9.50 meters in width.

The interior of the cathedral is decorated, on the sides, by numerous chapels, in which various artists worked.

The sumptuous Tribuna Reale, the work of the architect Francesco Valeriano Dellala of Beinasco, was comissioned by King Vittorio Amedeo III of Savoy, and was built around 1775.

ART OF THE CATHEDRAL OF SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST

The interior of the Cathedral of Turin is full of works of art. In the altar of the second chapel on the right, you can admire the polyptych of Saints Crispino and Crispiniano, a work attributed to Giovanni Martino Spanzotti. In the sacristy, there is the canvas of the Baptism of Jesus, attributed to the same artist.

Also in the sacristy, we can find the sepulcher of Bishop Claudius of Seyssel, dating back to 1526, the work of the sculptor Matteo Sanmicheli.

The canvases of the Madonna with Four Saints, located in the third chapel on the right, the altarpiece with Santa Barbara and San Girolamo, in the fourth chapel on the right, and the Madonna with Saints Ippolito and Cassiano, from the fifth chapel on the right, are by Bartolomeo Caravoglia.

Works by Pierre Legros are the marble statues of Santa Cristina and Santa Teresa, initially intended for the facade of the Church of Santa Cristina and then placed in the cathedral.

The bust of Pope Pius IX is by Giovanni Albertoni, while the monument to Cardinal Giuseppe Gamba was created in 1930 by Edoardo Rubino.

At the behest of King Carlo Alberto, the cathedral was embellished by a copy on wood of Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper, the work of Luigi Cagna of 1835. The Last Supper is placed on the counter-facade of the cathedral.

THE HOLY SHROUD OF TURIN

The Holy Shroud of Turin is a linen sheet kept in the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist, on which is visible the image of a man identified by many with Jesus.

In 1988, the examination with carbon-14 of the Holy Shroud dated the fabric to a time interval between 1260 and 1390. Nonetheless, its authenticity continues to be advocated by a number of people.

The public displays of the Holy Shroud in the cathedral are called ostensions. The last one was on April 11, 2020, only on television.

TIP: If you want to discover more about the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist and about the Holy Shroud of Turin, you can take a guided tour.

HOW TO GET TO THE CATHEDRAL OF SAN GIOVANNI BATTISTA

The Cathedral of San Giovanni Battista is located about 1.3 kilometers away from the Porta Nuova railway station and about 2 kilometers away from the Porta Susa railway station.

The closest Metro station is Porta Nuova, on the Metro Line M1. The closest tram and bus stop is Duomo – Musei Reali, located about 50 meters away from the cathedral, in front of Galleria Sabauda, on the tram Lines 4 and 7, and the bus Lines 4 ROSSO, 11, 19, 27, 51, 57, and 92.