Church of Our Lady of Consolation

The Church of Our Lady of Consolation or the Sanctuary of Consolat is one of the oldest religious buildings in Turin. Located in the north-west of the historic center of Turin, about 600 meters east of the metro station "XVIII Dicembre". The temple is the seat of the Archbishop of Turin and has the status of a minor basilica.

The first church on the site of the sanctuary may have been built as early as the 4th century. The church was dedicated to St. Andrew, and, according to legend, it kept a very revered icon of the Mother of God with the Child. Subsequently, the icon was lost, but at the beginning of the XII century it was rediscovered (according to legend, it was found by a blind boy who later saw). This miraculous event led to an increase in the number of pilgrims, and it was decided to expand the church. However, the modern building dates back to a completely different time period - in the XVII century, its construction was led at first by one of the best Italian architects of the Baroque era Guarino Guarini. In the XVIII century, the building was rebuilt by Filippo Juvarra, and in the XIX - by Carlo Cheppi. Around 1860, a neoclassical facade appeared at the church.

The interior of the church is very original. Elliptic in terms of the entrance (nartex) in the south goes into the hexagonal room of the sanctuary, where there is a large altar "Capella of Our Lady of the Comforter" and 4 chapels of oval shape. This form of the interior took in 1899-1904.