The old town
Our Lady of Lakes Sanctuary
It was bought by the Salesiani in 1892 and looked after by them ever since. In reality, the sanctuary was originally founded by the Capuchin friars in 1622 around a small church, which was already officiated by the Augustinians of Avigliana. On its vault a votive pillar was incorporated and decorated with a 14th century fresco of the Virgin feeding Baby Jesus. Tradition wants that these two buildings are connected with the votive offering of Bona di Borbone and Amadeo VI il Conte Verde as a thanksgiving for the birth of a son, the future Conte Rosso.
The building of the Capuchin friars was supported by the community of Avigliana, the Berta family and the Court of Savoy. It was included in a strategy for the strengthening of the order, for fighting the heresy of the valley in Piedmont.
There is a portico or pronaos, at the back of the church, in classical style decorated with frescoes. The oval interior holds an elegant elliptical vault, two side chapels, the presbytery and a large choir. There is a rich collection of votive tablets and next to these there are important 17th and 18th paintings, most of them made for the House of Savoy.
The funeral monument, by Ludovico Provana, the first Marquis of Avigliana that died in 1656, can be seen in the right chapel. The main altar is in wood and located in the presbytery with two other similar ones- in the tradition of the capuchin engravers. The alter is surmounted by a polyptych of the annunciation of Defendente Ferrari,a gift by Duke Carlo Emanuele. The cupola shows the Assumption of Maria,this too the work of a Capuchin painter in 1752. He used painted board fixed to the vault plaster, and was made for the centennial celebration of the crowning of the Virgin.