The Chiesa del Carmine in Turin is located on a plot of land the Carmelites had purchased when the city started expanding to the west. The convent was built first. The church, designed by Filippo Juvarra, followed soon after.
Chiesa del Carmine Turin
Useful information
Address: Via del Carmine, 3 – Turin. Phone: +39 011 4368228. Opening times (2022): From 08.30 till 13.00 and from 15.00 till 19.00. Closed: Sundays. Ticket price: Free.
History and description
The Carmelites had purchased the land to build their church in 1718. The spot was strategic, since it was on a main road from the Piazza Savoia, then still called Piazza Susina, to the city gate.
Gian Giacomo Plantery designed the church. Juvarra built the church between 1732 and 1736. The facade was added much later, in 1872, by Carlo Patarelli.
The church has a single nave and three tall side chapels with galleries. The chapels are open at the top, to let in a lot of light. The presbytery extends rather deep.
What to see
Claudio Francesco Beaumont was responsible for the high altarpiece “Madonna del Carmine and the Blessed Amedeo di Savoia” (apse, 1755-1760).
Corrado Giaquinto painted the “Immaculate Conception and the Prophet Elias” (3rd chapel on the right).
Piazza Savoia Turin
The obelisk in front of the Chiesa del Carmine was placed there in 1850. It commemorates the leggi Siccardi, a set of laws separating church and state in the Kingdom of Sardinia. The Catholic church lost many of its privileges as a result of this law.