Thursday, 25 October, 2018
Last year (7 November) we went up to Superga and were blown away by the Alpine scenery and the view of Torino below.
This year I went up alone. First, I got totally confused with the buses and, although I found a perfect bus that went all the way to the funicular, it turned out to be a coach and my BIP card wasn’t accepted on it. So I walked and walked and puzzled over the map and backtracked until I found a bus that would take me to the same spot. And of course I arrived just in time to see the hourly funicular train leave. Last time we were completely alone at that little station. This year a crowd started forming – mostly Italians, a couple of English, and a small French family.
Its not actually a funicular but was originally a little cable driven rack system train. Its name is the Sassi–Superga tramway (tranvia) and it climbs a steep grade for 3.1 km (1.9 miles) up to Superga from the Sassi area in about ten minutes. The altitude at the top is 650 m. (The basilica is a bit higher, at 672 meters above sea level.) The railway was opened on 27 April 1884. The cable driven rack railway system uses cables that run along the side of the track and passed around two large pulleys on each side of the cars, which in turn drives the cog wheels that propel the train consisting of the driven car (occupied by the driver and a brakeman) and up to three passenger cars. This was driven by a steam engine in the upper station until 1922, when it was replaced by an electric motor. After an accident when the cables broke in 1934, work began to convert to a conventional electric rack railway using the Strub rack system and it reopened on 16 April 1935.
Review of the tranvia: Well, it’s a great experience to have done it but for more thrills and a way better view, take the bus from just to the left of the station!
And a bit of a shock when I struggled to the top – how out of shape am I anyway! – The next picture is a reminder of last year’s view, the one that really stunned me with its beauty.
Here’s the view I had on Thursday, 25 October.
Surprise! I felt a bit cheated but it was good to have achieved the journey and the climb. I thought briefly about going in to see the Savoy apartments or tombs but it was very sombre up there and I felt slightly deflated so instead I just went into the Basilica, which was closed last year when we visited.
The Basilica of Superga is pretty much all that’s up there at the top. It’s a baroque church with ties to the Savoy family. It’s said that in 1706, Turin was invaded by the French. The Duke Vittorio Amedeo II and the Prince Eugenio of Savoia-Soisson, leaders of the local army, went up the hill to have a good view of the battlefield. Quite a climb! They found a small church at the top and the Duke knelt and vowed to the Madonna that if he won the battle he would build a bigger church. He had to make good his promise! Building started in 1717 and finished in 1731. The church contains the crypt of several members of the Savoy family. I chose not to visit but the photos online are pretty spectacular. The architect also designed and built apartments so that the family had somewhere to stay on their visits here. I wonder how much they were actually used. I didn’t visit them either. I wanted to get back and do the journey down in good light and, besides, they aren’t really my thing – opulence and marble and velvet and gold.
I then went to wait at the bus stop to go down. I had thirty minutes to wait. The bus ride was familiar. It’s a small bus and it goes at a terrifying speed down hills and around corners, passing houses and lodges and a cafe and shop or two. People live on these hills and they use this bus. Those who aren’t on the bus are busy dodging it as it speeds along. No views this year until we reached a couple of lower, clearer spots.
Mostly, it’s time to hang on and pray you reach the bottom safely. About halfway along, there’s a long stop and then you climb almost back to Superga again before heading down to Sassi. Phew. I’ll upload videos of some of that journey but will never capture the adventure fully! As I said, if you go to Superga, consider the bus from the parking lot at least on the return journey.