Twin Churches of Santa Cristina and San Carlo Borromeo
Why is it significant?
Pause at the southern threshold of Piazza San Carlo to take in the harmonious symmetry of the Twin Churches, the two baroque facades framing the square like monumental pylons of a triumphal portal.
Key Facts
| Place | Twin Churches of Santa Cristina and San Carlo Borromeo |
|---|---|
| Address | Piazza San Carlo 1, 10121 Turin, Italy |
| Geo Coordinates | 45.06620, 7.68250 |
| Part of Walk | Piazza San Carlo, Egyptian Museum and Palazzo Carignano: The Elegant Heart of Turin |
| Generated | Generated |
Pause at the southern threshold of Piazza San Carlo to take in the harmonious symmetry of the Twin Churches, the two baroque facades framing the square like monumental pylons of a triumphal portal. On your left stands the Church of Santa Cristina, founded in 1639 by Regent Christine of France and completed between 1715 and 1718 by the genius Filippo Juvarra with a magnificent undulating facade of pale Gassino stone, crowned by allegorical virtue statues and flaming stone urns. Mirroring it on your right rises the Church of San Carlo Borromeo, begun in 1619 by Duke Carlo Emanuele I in fulfillment of a vow commemorating the Milanese archbishop's visit, and later fitted in 1834 with a neoclassical facade by Ferdinando Caronesi that gracefully echoes Juvarra's curved proportions. This dual architectural composition reflects both Savoy spiritual piety and the high baroque passion for perspective streetscapes. Polished marble and warm brick dialogue with theatrical balance.
Observe the plastic sculptural rhythm of Santa Cristina's facade carved by Juvarra: the masterful alternation of convex center and concave bays, projecting fluted columns, and deeply recessed niches create dynamic shadow play under direct sunlight, prefiguring the grand international Rococo movement and ranking among Italy's finest church fronts.
Devotion to Saint Charles Borromeo is deeply woven into Turin's history: it was specifically to allow the cardinal to venerate the Holy Shroud without walking across the snowy Alps that Duke Emanuele Filiberto permanently transferred the relic from Chambéry to Turin in 1578.
Step inside the peaceful nave of San Carlo to admire the high altar painting: it depicts Saint Charles reverently venerating the Holy Shroud, created in the seventeenth century by Milanese master Giovan Battista Crespi, known as Il Cerano.
Walk forward past the church facades into the grand open salon of Piazza San Carlo, approaching the central bronze equestrian statue.