The architect who designed the Santissima Trinità Church in the Via Garibaldi in Turin, Ascanio Vitozzi, is himself buried inside the building. In order to build the church, an earlier medieval one, dedicated to the saints Stephen and Agnes, needed to be destroyed.
Santissima Trinità Church Turin
Useful information
Address: Via Garibaldi, 6, 10122 Torino. Phone: +39 011 5156340. Opening times: Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday from 12.00 till 17.00; Saturday from 08.00 till 17.00; Sunday and holidays from 09.30 till 12.30 and from 17.30 till 19.30. Ticket price: Free.
History and description
The Santissima Trinità Church was commissioned by the Confraternity of the Holy Trinity. This bortherhood had been founded in 1557 to give assistance to the sick, the needy and to pilgrims. Construction took from 1598 till 1606.
At the time, Vitozzi was the house architect of the Duke.
The church is constructed keeping the symbols of the Holy Trinity in mind. There are three entrances, three side altars and three domes.
The polychrome marble interior dates back to the 18th century and is the work of Filippo Juvarra, then the architect of the court. Juvarra was also responsible for the altar on the right, which is dedicated to the saints Stephen and Agnes.
The sacristy was designed by count Agliaudi di Tavigliano. Its vault was frescoed by Claudio Francesco Beaumont and depicts the “Sacrifice of Melchedisec”.
In 1831, Angelo Marchini replaced the old facade with a neoclassical one. The relief enclosed by the tympanum depicts the “Coronation of Mary”.
Between 1844 and 1847 Luigi Vacca and Francesco Gonin restored the dome.