The Museum map

Casa Don Bosco Museum is located at the Salesian Motherhouse in the multicultural neighbourhood of Valdocco, Turin. The only large cultural centre in Valdocco, it celebrates the story of a man, Don Bosco, and the birth of his world-wide mission in Turin. His Oratory altered the history of the Piedmont capital by offering a home, a family and a future to thousands of young people who attended his Oratory.

THE MUSEUM.

Casa Don Bosco Museum invites you into the original environment that developed in the second half of the nineteenth century. The basement is characterized by the rustic simplicity of the historical dining rooms, wine cellar, kitchen and theatre. Today, the larger dining room houses four permanent collections: Gifts to the Museum; Marian Iconography; Liturgical Treasures; and Salesian Popular Piety. The ground floor highlights the evolution of the Oratory: its courtyards; the portico of Don Bosco’s famed “good night” talks, including a bronze reproduction of the pulpit from which he addressed the boys; the trades exhibit; and a sculpture commemorating Mama Margaret, Don Bosco’s mother and feminine genius behind the Oratory.

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THE ITINERARY.

The first floor houses four collections: the architectural and urban development of Valdocco; the gallery of paintings; St. John Bosco’s prolific ministry as writer and editor; and finally, his most significant influences and early collaborators. The second floor is the spiritual heart of the Museum where we find Don Bosco’s personal quarters, known affectionately as le Camerette, or the “little rooms”. Ample space is dedicated to the outstanding members of the Salesian family who lived at Valdocco as exemplars of salesian holiness. The final collection celebrates Don Bosco’s beatification and canonization.

The Underground Rooms

No visit to Casa Don Bosco would be complete without the underground rooms of the Oratory. Visitors are struck by the rustic simplicity of the kitchen and dining halls, the crypto portico and bread oven. The wine cellar, added between 1860-1861, is most evocative. Standing inside the cellar, look up and imagine grapes being dropped into the wine press through the little windows in the ceiling above… by eager boys up in the courtyard!

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The Ground Floor

A visit to the Casa Don Bosco begins in the Ticket Office on the ground floor. This space dates back to 1853 when it was Don Bosco’s first book binding shop. The artwork presents key Salesian figures who were instrumental in the gradual transformation of the historical spaces in Valdocco.

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The First Floor

The first floor itinerary begins with the architectural and urban development of the Valdocco neighbourhood. Five scale models tell the story of this evolution from the time of Don Bosco’s arrival in 1846 to the present.

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The Second Floor

The second floor of Casa Don Bosco is the spiritual heart of the Museum. Here we find the Camerette, the “little rooms”, where Don Bosco lived and passed away.

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