The Valdocco complex is also called the Salesian ‘holy land’ because Don Bosco (1815-1888) developed here his first oratorium, founded the Salesians’congregation and lived there until his death on 31st January 1888.
It’s located in the Borgo Dora neighborhood, today inhabited mostly by a predominantly foreign population. The Salesian complex that occupies and characterizes the Valdocco quarter, a name that now identifies it, currently includes the Basilica of Mary Help of Christians, the Church of St Francis de Sales, the Pinardi Chapel, the middle school and vocational school buildings, the parish and the oratory.
The heart is made up of Don Bosco’s ‘camerette’, located on the second floor of the building that extend to the courtyard at the side of the Basilica. In these little rooms, now part of the museum itinerary, Don Bosco lived for almost forty years, carrying out with great courage and determination his work of charity and contribution to the pastoral activity of the Church of Turin.
In these places, the stories and paths of many men and women of God converged. In addition to Don Bosco, we like to recall Domenico Savio, Michele Rua and Maria Domenica Mazzarello, benefactors and collaborators of the Salesian work right from its origins.
Groups of pilgrims, young people, families, members of Salesian family groups, religious, all come here to immerse themselves in Salesian spirituality: here they find the living legacy of Don Bosco’s human and Christian experience.
Image source: www.valdocco.it
