Santo Volto Conference Center
The Santo Volto Conference Center is a multipurpose religious and civic complex in Turin, built around the Church of the Santo Volto (Holy Face) completed in 2006 to a design by architect Mario Botta. The complex serves as the pastoral and administrative headquarters of the Archdiocese of Turin and doubles as a congress venue for ecclesiastical and cultural events. Its striking industrial reuse of a former gasworks site — retaining the historic gas towers as a visual anchor — makes it one of the most discussed examples of contemporary sacred architecture in northern Italy.
- Address
- Via Val della Torre 3, 10149 Torino TO
- Period
- Church consecrated 2006; conference facilities opened subsequently
- Style
- Contemporary sacred architecture; industrial heritage reuse
- Architect
- Mario Botta
- Patron
- Archdiocese of Turin
- Function
- Parish church, archdiocesan offices, and conference centre
- Current use
- Active parish and congress venue
- Coordinates
- 45.0927° N, 7.6621° E
At a glance
- Type
- Church and conference complex
- Period
- 21st century (2006)
- Style
- Contemporary / Postmodern sacred architecture
- Location
- Borgo Vittoria district, Turin, Piedmont
- Architect
- Mario Botta
Overview
The Santo Volto complex stands on a former industrial area in northwestern Turin, where the Archdiocese commissioned Mario Botta to create a new pastoral hub for the city. Botta’s design preserves seven historic gas holders as a symbolic crown above the circular church, fusing industrial memory with new sacred space. The conference wing accommodates assemblies, synods, and cultural gatherings, giving the site a dual public life as both a place of worship and a civic meeting point.
History
The project was commissioned by Cardinal Severino Poletto to mark Turin’s role as host city for the 2006 Winter Olympics and as a permanent spiritual legacy for the archdiocese. Construction of the church proceeded between 2002 and 2006 on the decommissioned Italgas gasworks site in the Borgo Vittoria neighbourhood. The conference and office facilities were completed in subsequent phases, creating a self-contained archdiocesan campus that also serves the local parish community of San Giovanni Bosco.
What you see
The church presents a cylindrical brick volume pierced by vertical light shafts, its roof surrounded by the repurposed steel gas towers that rise dramatically above the surrounding residential blocks. Inside, the circular nave centres on a freestanding altar beneath a skylit drum, creating an intimate gathering space despite the building’s considerable size. The adjacent conference hall is a lower rectilinear wing that faces an outdoor plaza where the ensemble can be appreciated in full.
Cultural significance
The Santo Volto is consistently cited in discussions of contemporary Italian sacred architecture as a successful reconciliation of industrial heritage and new religious form. Mario Botta’s approach of retaining the gas towers as a quasi-sacred crown has influenced subsequent heritage-adaptive church projects across Europe. The complex also holds civic significance as a permanent marker of Turin’s 2006 Olympic legacy.
Practical information
The church is open for regular parish services. Conference facilities are bookable through the Archdiocese of Turin. Visitors wishing to view the architecture outside of service times should check current access hours with the parish office.
Address: Via Val della Torre 3, 10149 Torino TO
Opening hours: Check official archdiocesan website for current schedule.
Getting there
From Turin Porta Susa railway station, take tram line 3 or 9 northbound towards Borgo Vittoria; the complex is a short walk from the Via Stradella stop. By metro, take Line 1 to Fermi station and continue by bus or on foot approximately 15 minutes. The complex has limited on-site parking.