Basilica di Superga

The Basilica di Superga crowns a 672-metre hill east of Turin and stands as one of Italy's most significant Baroque monuments. Architect Filippo Juvara designed it from 1717 on the orders of Duke Victor Amadeus II, who had vowed to build a church in thanksgiving after the French-Spanish siege of Turin was broken in 1706 — consecration followed in 1731. Its soaring dome and columned portico are visible across the city, and the crypt below serves as the royal mausoleum of the House of Savoy, holding several Italian kings. The hill also carries a tragic memory: in 1949 the aircraft carrying the entire Grande Torino football squad — arguably Italy's greatest club side of the era — struck the rear of the basilica on approach, killing all 31 on board. Visitors arrive by a historic rack railway and are rewarded on the viewing terrace with an unobstructed panorama stretching from Turin to the Alpine arc.