Basilica of don Bosco, Catholic minor basilica in Castelnuovo Don Bosco, Italy
The Basilica of Don Bosco is a New Classical church with twin towers set on a hill in Castelnuovo Don Bosco, the birthplace of Saint John Bosco. The complex includes prayer areas and museums that document both the Salesian movement and the rural history of the surrounding Piedmont countryside.
The basilica was consecrated in 1961, built on the land where Saint John Bosco was born and where he spent his early years. Its construction followed his canonization in 1934, which drew growing numbers of pilgrims to this corner of Piedmont over the following decades.
The basilica sits at the center of a living pilgrimage site where members of the Salesian community gather regularly for prayer and reflection. Visitors can follow a marked path through the grounds that connects the church to the house where Don Bosco was born.
The site sits on a hill just outside the center of Castelnuovo Don Bosco and can be reached on foot from the village. Allow enough time to walk through the whole complex, as the church, the museums, and the birthplace are spread across a large open area.
One section of the complex preserves the original farmhouse where Don Bosco grew up, kept largely as it would have appeared in the early 1800s. Visitors can walk through the same rooms where he lived as a child, which gives a very direct sense of the environment that shaped him.
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