The Shroud of Turin: what you can see and how

Can you see the Shroud?

It is the first question everyone asks in Turin, and the honest answer is no: the Shroud is not on public display. The cloth lies flat in a case with a controlled atmosphere, itself locked inside a large metal casket, in the last chapel of the left aisle of the Cathedral, beneath the royal gallery. It is taken out only for public expositions, which are rare and announced well in advance: the last ones open to everyone were in 2010 and 2015, while more recently there have been moments of veneration reserved for groups, such as young people from the Piedmont dioceses, and digital initiatives.

The dates and format of expositions are decided by the Archdiocese of Turin and announced on the official Shroud website: if you read about an exposition elsewhere, check there. Be wary of any tour or ticket promising to “see the Shroud” outside those occasions: no operator can offer it, and none of the options on this page do. What you can see every day are three places linked to the cloth, described below.

The Cathedral: free entry

The Cathedral of St John the Baptist, built at the end of the 15th century, is Turin’s only major Renaissance church, with a white marble façade and a brick bell tower beside it. It stands on Piazza San Giovanni, three minutes’ walk from Piazza Castello, and is usually open every day from 9am to 12.30pm and from 3pm to 7pm, with free entry and no booking.

Along the left aisle, screens with subtitles in the main languages explain the history and features of the Shroud; at the end, in front of the chapel beneath the royal gallery, benches and kneelers let you pause before the case that holds it. Volunteers in tabards are on hand with information. Remember that this is a place of worship: cover shoulders and knees, keep your voice down, and during Mass stop sightseeing or stay at the back of the church.

Guarini’s Chapel of the Holy Shroud

Between the Cathedral and the Royal Palace rises the Chapel of the Holy Shroud, a Baroque masterpiece designed by Guarino Guarini and completed in 1694 to house the cloth. The dark marble interior culminates in an extraordinary dome of stacked arches that narrow towards the top into a twelve-pointed star, giving the feeling of rising towards the light. The Shroud remained here for three centuries, until 1993, when it was moved for restoration work.

On the night of 11–12 April 1997 a fire devastated the chapel; the cloth, already in the Cathedral, was rescued by firefighters. After more than twenty years of restoration the chapel reopened in 2018. Today it is visited as part of the Royal Museums, entering from the first floor of the Royal Palace: there is no access from the Cathedral. It is empty, but it is one of the most moving spaces in the city.

Royal Museums: hours, prices and what the ticket covers

A single Royal Museums ticket, about €15 on the official website, covers the Royal Palace with the Chapel of the Holy Shroud, the Royal Armoury and Galleria Sabauda, the Museum of Antiquities and the Royal Gardens. Young people aged 18 to 25 pay a token fare of about €2, entry is free under 18 and for disabled visitors with one companion, and the first Sunday of the month is free for everyone. The Torino+Piemonte Card and the Abbonamento Musei give free entry.

The main entrance is at Piazzetta Reale 1, next to Piazza Castello. Hours are usually 9am to 7pm with last entry at 6pm; the weekly closing day is currently Wednesday, but it has changed in the past, so check it on the Royal Museums website. The main floor of the Royal Palace, chapel included, can be reached by lift with help from staff, to be requested at the ticket desk.

The Shroud Museum

To really understand the story of the cloth, head for the Shroud Museum (Museo della Sindone) at Via San Domenico 28, in the crypt of the Church of the Holy Shroud, about ten minutes’ walk from the Cathedral. The displays trace the Shroud’s journey through the centuries, objects linked to its veneration and the long history of scientific study, starting with the photograph taken in 1898 by Secondo Pia, whose negative revealed the image as a positive for the first time. A full-size reproduction of the cloth is also on show.

Tickets cost about €8 (about €6 for over-65s, teachers and students, about €3 for ages 6 to 12, free under 6) and are sold only at the desk, with no online sales. The museum is usually open every afternoon, but hours vary, so check its website before you go. Panels are in Italian and English, with leaflets in other languages; the museum does not run its own guided tours and is wheelchair accessible.

A little history

The Shroud is a linen cloth about 4.4 metres long and 1.1 metres wide, bearing the faint double image, front and back, of a man with the marks of scourging and crucifixion. Documented in France from the mid-14th century, it passed in the 15th century to the House of Savoy, who kept it at Chambéry: there, in 1532, a fire damaged it, leaving the burns and patches still visible today. In 1578 Duke Emanuele Filiberto brought it to Turin, the new capital of his duchy, and it has hardly left the city since.

Owned by the Savoy family for centuries, it was bequeathed to the Pope by Umberto II in 1983. Radiocarbon dating in 1988 placed it in the Middle Ages, but the scientific debate over how the image was formed remains open. The Church makes no ruling on its authenticity and presents it to the faithful as an image that recalls the Passion. Whatever your view, visiting the places of the Shroud tells you a great deal about Turin and its dynasty.

Planning your visit and which ticket to choose

An easy half-day plan: start in the morning at the Cathedral (half an hour), continue to the Royal Museums through Piazzetta Reale with the Chapel of the Holy Shroud (at least two and a half hours) and, in the afternoon, finish at the Shroud Museum. Next to the Cathedral, the Roman Palatine Gate and the archaeological park are worth a stop. The metro does not come here: from Porta Susa it is about 15 minutes on foot, from Porta Nuova about twenty.

• Official Royal Museums ticket, about €15: the cheapest way to see the chapel; you can usually just turn up at the desk, but at weekends and on long weekends it is worth booking.
• Royal Palace of Turin: guided tour, from €49 on Tiqets: about an hour and a half with a guide in English and Italian and entry without queuing, through the royal apartments and ending in the Chapel of the Holy Shroud. It does not include a viewing of the cloth.
• Torino+Piemonte Card, from €29.90: free entry to the Royal Museums and many other museums, such as Palazzo Madama and the Mole; worth it if you visit at least three museums in a few days.

Tiqets also has a selection of tickets for Turin’s attractions, from €12, handy for rounding off the day.