HISTORY OF THE CHURCH

On August 10, 1557, Duke Emanuel Philibert - leading the imperial army made up of Spaniards and Savoyard-Piedmontese contingents - defeated the French army at Saint-Quentin (Picardy, Upper France), allowing his return to the Duchy of Savoy that had been largely occupied by the French for more than twenty years. It was the day of Saint Lawrence and both Emanuel Philibert and Philip II of Spain promised to build a place of worship dedicated to him. Philip II built the Monastery of Saint Lawrence of El Escorial over the course of two decades. Emanuele Filiberto, having moved the capital to Turin (1563) and engaged in the construction of the Citadel and the rebuilding of the State, temporarily dedicated a small pre-existing church to the Saint in the area of ​​the palaces of power, giving it importance as the first seat of the Order of Saint Maurice and Lazarus (1572) and the first location of the Holy Shroud brought from Chambery to facilitate the pilgrimage of Saint Charles Borromeo (1578). Despite the persistence of serious political/military problems, his successors did not forget the vow. The current church was begun in 1668 under Charles Emmanuel II, completed in 1680 under the regent Maria Giovanna Battista, restored in 1828 - after the deterioration in the years following the French occupation - by Charles Felix.

CRONOLOGICAL PROSPECT OF THE ROYAL CHURCH OF SAINT LORENCE