Basilica of the Superga, Turin

 The great old city of Turin is very high in my list of intended visits. The sight of this monumental church perched above the city would be a must. 

In 1706 the city was besieged by over 40,000 French troops during the War of the Spanish Succession. On 28 August that year the Duke, Vittorio Amadeo II and his cousin Prince Eugene of Savoy climbed to the top of the Superga hill for reconnaisance. While visiting the little church church there,  the Duke promised in front of a statue to the Virgin that were he to be victorious he would build a great church to her honour there.

Therefore the Superga was built 1717-31 as a votive offering. However it was also built as a huge ego trip for the House of Savoy because they had annexed the Kingdom of Sicily in 1713 after their victory over the French and then were also to annex  Sardinia in 1720. it would be bold solid monument reflecting the power and aspiration of the Roral patron. The result "is by far the grandest of the great number of Baroque sanctuaries on mountains (Wittkower). 

As King of Sicily in 1714 Victorio Amadeo II met Juvarra in Messina and by the end of the year had made him First Architect to the King. This was to give him unparalelled prestige in Italy and an international career. In 1719-20 he  was involved in plans for the palace of Mafra for King John V of Portugal. He visited Paris and London in 1720 and designed a Royal Palace of Madrid for Philip V in 1735. The Superga was the first major work of the young Juvarra, after his 10 years in Rome.His time in Turin was to be filled not only with comissions throughout Italy but also included 5 churches, 4 Royal residences and 4 large town palaces. His knowledge of historical and contemporary styles was exemplorary. For the Superga we could detect the influence of the Pantheon and St Maria dei Miracoli in Piazza del Popolo. and for the desired  prominent dome and the twin bell towers, perhaps St Agnese in the Piazza Navona. His church is attached to a large rectangular monastery block but only  a quarter is concealed inside the block with the remaining three quarters thrusting their circular magficence toward the viewer. The portico in front of the church is square in plan and the same height as the body of the church, the drum and the dome. 

The interior rotunda suggests the characteristics of a Greek cross and the octagonal dome grows from  a ring of columns supporting the entablature, with no pendentive zone. The windows in the drum and rubs and coffers of the dome are remiscent of Borromini and Bernini respectively.

Interior - notice how the drum rests on the entablature supported by the pillars.
Paris Orlando, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

The sanctuary has its own vaults and lighting source, but does not detract from the rotunda as the dominant space. There is no nave and this feels quite an intimate  place, great for worship.

With its wonderful position and monumentality, we can see parallels with Melk, Weingarten and Einsiedeln, all built about the same time. How much did Juvarra know about them?