A Jacobite Gazetteer - Turin

Basilica di Superga

Facade

This church contains the tombs of many members of the House of Savoy, including King Victor, his wife, Queen Maria Teresa, and their eldest daughter, Princess Marie Adelaide of Savoy.

The tombs are in the crypt of the church. In the central nave of the crypt is the monument to King Victor, a marble urn with a Latin inscription: ¹

VICTORIVS EMMANVEL I VICTORII AMEDEI III FILIVS V. SARDINIAE REX PACATA EVROPA HAC INSVLA REDVX AN. MDCCCXIV REGNVM A KAROLO EMMANVELE IV ABDICATUM LIGVRIA ADAVCTVM PVBLICAM REM IVVATVRVS K. FELICI SEPTEM POST ANNOS TRADIDIT SPONTE NON PERITVRA IVSTITIAE MANSVETVDINIS PIETATIS CONSTANTIAE IN ADVERSIS TESTIMONIA RELINQVENS
VIXIT AN. LXIV MENSES VI.	REGNAVIT AN. XVIII

Below the monument to King Victor is the tomb of his wife Queen Maria Teresa, a white marble urn supported by ionic pilasters with a Latin inscription on the front:

QVIETI. MARIAE. THERESIAE. AVSTRACAE.
VXORIS. REGIS. VICTORII. EMMANVELIS
MATRIS. FILIORVM. SEX. QVAE. FORMA. EGREGIA. INGENIO. SINGVLARI. PIA
VIXIT ANNOS. LVII. M. IV. D. XXIX
OBIIT. IANVAE. IV. KAL. APRILIS. ANNO. MDCCCXXXII

Also in the central nave is a monument to King Charles IV (whose tomb is in the Chiesa di Sant' Andrea al Quirinale in Rome). The monument was erected sometime between 1878 and 1900 by King Umberto I of Italy; it bears the following Latin inscription:

CAROLVS. EMMANVEL. IV
VICT. AM. SAB. FILIVS
REX. SARD. CYPRI. ET HIEROS.
RELIGIONE. AC. DOCTRINA. PRAECLARVS
N. AVG. TAVRIN. VII KAL. IVNII. A. MDCCLI
OBIIT. ROMAE. PRID. NON. OCT. MDCCCIX
VMBERTVS I. ITAL. REX
NE. HIC. QVOQVE MAIORIS SVI LAVDATISSIMI
DEESSET MEMORIA
P.

Also buried in the central nave are the parents of King Charles IV and King Victor (King Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia and Queen Maria Antonia Ferdinanda) and their younger brother, King Charles Felix of Sardinia.

In the left transept of the crypt is the tomb of the eldest daughter of King Victor, Princess Marie Adelaide of Savoy (1794-1795). It bears the following Latin inscription:

MARIA. ADELAIDA
CLOTILDA. CAROLA
VIXIT. MENS. X. TANTVM
CAELO. RECEPTA. KAL. AVG. MDCCXCV
CVM. PATER. EIVS. VICT. EMMANVEL. REGIS. FILIVS
ESSET. SEGVSII. IN PROCINCTV

Also buried in the left transept are four siblings of King Charles IV and King Victor: Amedeo, Duke of Montferrat; Princess Maria Cristina of Savoy; Princess Maria Elisabetta of Savoy; and Maria Anna, Duchess of Chablais.

Twenty minute guided tours of the royal tombs take place from late March to late September, from 9.30 a.m. to 12.15 p.m. and from 2.30 p.m. to 6.15 p.m.; late September to late March, from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon and from 3.00 p.m. to 5.00 p.m. Closed Fridays, January 1, Easter, June 16 to 30, September 8, and Christmas.

The basilica is located in the Parco Naturale di Superga in the hills to the north-east of the city centre. Take tram 15 to Stazione Sassi, and then bus 79 to Piazza Basilica di Superga.

Notes

¹ The text of the inscriptions is taken from Augusto Telluccini, "La Real Chiesa di Soperga: ricerche storiche e documenti inediti", Miscellanea di Storia Italiana, terza serie, XV (XLVI della raccolta), 90-119.