Santuario della Consolata, Minor basilica and Marian shrine in Turin, Italy

The Santuario della Consolata is a minor basilica and Marian shrine in Turin, combining a hexagonal plan with an elliptical nave in baroque style. A Romanesque bell tower stands beside the neoclassical facade, creating a contrast between medieval structure and later baroque additions.

The church was founded in the 5th century by Bishop Maximus as Sant'Andrea, built over a corner tower of the Roman walls of Augusta Taurinorum. Around 1000 Novalicensi monks rebuilt it in Romanesque form with three naves; their bell tower survives. Guarino Guarini remodelled it from 1678 with an elliptical nave and hexagonal chapel, Antonio Bertola completed the dome in 1703, Filippo Juvarra redesigned the presbytery and altar between 1729 and 1740, and Carlo Ceppi gave the building its present form between 1899 and 1904.

The shrine houses a venerated Marian icon set within an ornate marble altar, drawing worshippers throughout the day. Local residents regard this place as a central spiritual landmark in Turin, where prayer and votive offerings have remained part of daily life for centuries.

The shrine opens daily from 8 AM to 7:30 PM and stands at the intersection of Via Consolata and Via Carlo Ignazio Giulio. Visitors can enter freely and should be mindful of liturgical services, which may limit access to certain areas at times.

The venerated image inside is not the original: the painting now honoured is a late-15th-century work attributed to Antoniazzo Romano, inspired by the Madonna del Popolo in Rome. A copy of the lost icon is kept in the crypt. In the 19th century Secondo Pia, the photographer famous for first capturing the Shroud of Turin, was commissioned to photograph the old portrait of the Virgin to make reproductions.