The Basilica of Corpus Domini () is a Roman Catholic church in Turin, Italy, built to celebrate the "Miracle of the Eucharist" which, according to various sources, occurred in 1453 during the war between the
Duchy of Savoy
The Duchy of Savoy ( it, Ducato di Savoia; french: Duché de Savoie) was a country in Western Europe that existed from 1416.
It was created when Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor, raised the County of Savoy into a duchy for Amadeus VIII. The duc ...
The event which led to the construction of the church occurred on 6 June 1453 during the war between
Louis of Savoy
Ludovico I or Louis I (Italian: Lodovico; 24 February 1413 – 29 January 1465) was Duke of Savoy from 1440 until his death in 1465.
Life
He was born at Geneva the son of Amadeus VIII, Duke of Savoy and Mary of Burgundy; he was the first to ho ...
and France. A group of French soldiers had plundered the main church in Exilles, a town in the Val di Susa. On 6 June, the day of the Feast of Corpus Christi, they went to Turin to sell the booty. The donkey which transported the sacramental bread from the Exilles' church fell on the ground and the
Holy Spirit
In Judaism, the Holy Spirit is the divine force, quality, and influence of God over the Universe or over his creatures. In Nicene Christianity, the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost is the third person of the Trinity. In Islam, the Holy Spirit acts as ...
rose and illuminated the square from the air.
Luigi Cibrario
Luigi, Count Cibrario (23 February 1802 in Usseglio, Piedmont1 October 1870) was an Italian statesman and historian.
Biography
Born in Usseglio, in what is now the province of Turin, Cibrario was descended from a noble but impoverished Piedmont ...
, ''Storia di Torino''.
To celebrate the event, the painting of the
Holy Name of Jesus
In Catholicism, the veneration of the Holy Name of Jesus (also ''Most Holy Name of Jesus'', it, Santissimo Nome di Gesù) developed as a separate type of devotion in the early modern period, in parallel to that of the '' Sacred Heart''. The ...
was painted on the four gates of the city but this was deemed insufficient, and in 1509 a small chapel was soon commissioned on the present church's site. However, nothing was built until 1521, when Innocenzo Cybo,
Archbishop of Turin
The Archdiocese of Turin ( la, Archidioecesis Taurinensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory of the Catholic Church in Italy.Matteo Sanmicheli. This was demolished in 1607 to make room to the modern basilica.
The design of the new church was commissioned to Ascanio Vitozzi. Amedeo di Castellamonte collaborated in the designing of the façade. Works began in 1607. In 1753 king Charles Emmanuel III of Savoy commissioned Benedetto Alfieri to restore the interior decoration and to ornament it with stuccoes.
Overview
The church has a massive façade, with six pilasters and four columns supporting the
entablature
An entablature (; nativization of Italian , from "in" and "table") is the superstructure of moldings and bands which lies horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and ...
, in typical Baroque style. It is completed by statue of angels and saints by Bernardo Falconi, dating to the late 17th century.
The interior has a single nave, and was largely renewed in the 18th century. The high altar is the original one, created by Francesco Lanfranchi in 1664. The interior also houses a slab marking the exact place of the miracle.
Corpus Domini
The Feast of Corpus Christi (), also known as the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, is a Christian liturgical solemnity celebrating the Real Presence of the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ in the elements of ...