Reliquie di martiri e nuovi culti di santi in Piemonte (secoli XVII-XIX)

[Machine translation] Following the rediscovery of the Roman catacombs, which took place in 1578, the whole of Europe was involved in a vast phenomenon of the distribution of relics of martyrs (and presumed to be such). This distribution significantly affected, from the beginning of the seventeenth century and up to the late nineteenth century, also the Savoy territories. The essay presents some examples relating to the arrival in Piedmont of these new relics, which gave birth, with different outcomes from location to location, to new patron cults and new devotions. Starting from the case of Chieri (Turin) and some surrounding parishes, there is the dissemination of a particular method of exposure to the veneration of these “holy bodies” implemented through the use of special urns.