San Tommaso, Baroque church in Turin, Italy
San Tommaso is a church in Turin whose 1895 semicircular forepart, designed by Carlo Ceppi, replaced the demolished nave. Its curved facade carries statues of Saint Francis and Saint Anthony, moved from the earlier front, and the dome behind it has a lantern topped by an iron cross. The bell tower stands to the right.
San Tommaso is first documented in 1115 and collapsed before being rebuilt in 1447; a second reconstruction began in 1584, when Carlo Emanuele I of Savoy laid the first stone on 19 June. The church was consecrated on 8 May 1621. In 1895 the nave was demolished for Via Pietro Micca and Carlo Ceppi built a new semicircular forepart modelled on Venice's Santa Maria della Salute, turning the Latin cross plan into a Greek cross; work ended in 1897.
The parish was suppressed in 2013 and the church attached to Turin Cathedral. Devotees remembered here include the social saints Giuseppe Benedetto Cottolengo and Giuseppe Cafasso, who visited often; the remains of Servants of God Leopoldo Musso, Angela Catterina Lucia Bocchino and Paolo Pio Perazzo lie inside.
The church stands at the corner of Via Pietro Micca, Via San Tommaso and Via Monte di Pietà, so it is reached on foot from Piazza Castello or Porta Nuova. The 1895 semicircular entrance front faces Via Pietro Micca; the bell tower and the surviving apse and transept are to its right and rear. Since 2013 the parish has been suppressed and the church attached to Turin Cathedral, so check celebration times there.
The 1895 rebuild by Carlo Ceppi kept the old apse, transept, bell tower and altar; the curved facade, modelled on Venice's Santa Maria della Salute, carries statues of Saint Francis and Saint Anthony moved from the previous front. The walnut pulpit was carved by Carlo Maria Ugliengo in 1724.
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