Duomo di Torino and Cappella della Sindone

The Duomo di Torino, dedicated to Saint John the Baptist, stands on Piazza San Giovanni in the Centro Storico of Turin, Piedmont, Italy, directly beside the Palazzo Reale. Built between 1491 and 1498, it is the city's main Renaissance church and one of very few in Piedmont from that period. Its marble facade is plain, while the interior has a Latin-cross plan with side chapels and a high altar area where Sunday and daily services take place. Behind the apse rises the Baroque Chapel of the Holy Shroud, designed by Guarino Guarini in the seventeenth century as a circular dark-marble space crowned by a remarkable dome of interlaced stone arches. The chapel was badly damaged by a fire in 1997 and, after a long restoration, reopened in 2018. The Shroud of Turin, the linen cloth traditionally associated with the burial of Jesus, is not displayed day to day; it is kept in a protected case and shown only during rare public expositions, while a replica is displayed in the cathedral. Visitors usually spend forty-five to ninety minutes, covering the nave, the replica and, when open, the chapel reached through the Musei Reali route. The cathedral is free to enter, but visitors must dress modestly with shoulders and knees covered, and sightseeing is restricted during Mass. The calmest period is weekday morning, while midday and weekend afternoons bring tour groups. Photographers find the best frontal views of the facade from the piazza, and the dome of the chapel is best appreciated from the museum route inside. The Roman Porta Palatina is a short walk away, so the cathedral combines well with a stroll through the Quadrilatero Romano.