Sacra of Saint Michele Monastery near Turin

By Vicky · Published Nov. 18th, 2024

The Sacra of Saint Michele, or Sacra di San Michele, is a monastery near Turin perched atop a rocky hilltop with fantastic views.

How to get from Turin to Sacra di San Michele?

You have a few options to reach Sacra di San Michele from Turin:

Driving from Turin to Sacra di San Michele Monastery

Firstly, you can drive, which takes roughly one hour from Turin to the monastery. Note, the last 15 minutes are quite windy. The car park is not directly by the monastery, but roughly 10 minutes walk away. This short walk is on a road and you get some nice views when there are gaps in the trees. Parking costs €2 per hour, though in summer the parking is very busy, so arrive early. Alternatively, you could park at the very bottom and walk up (see below).

Train + Walk or Train + Bus

Secondly, you can catch a train from Turin to Sant’Ambrogio di Torino Train Station and then walk up to the monastery (see below). Trains leave Turin from Porta Nuova main station. Tickets cost €8.60 for a return journey. On weekends and public holidays from April to October inclusive, there is a bus to the monastery from Avigliana – Stazione Fs (the train station one stop before Sant’Amborgio). You can find the bus timetable here at the bottom of the page. Tickets for this option cost €12 return. Both ticket options can be bought from the official Italian Train Website.

Guided Tour to Saint Michele monastery from Turin

Finally, you could take a taxi or go on a guided tour* from Turin to the monastery. These are the most expensive options, but on a guided tour you’ll learn a lot and have no stress about planning or transport.

Walking up to Sacra of Saint Michele Monastery

If you catch the train or don’t feel like driving up the windy road to the top, then walking from Sant’Ambrogio to Sacra of Saint Michele Monastery is a great option. The monastery sits atop Mount Pirchiriano, and it takes roughly 1.5-2 hours to walk up: It’s almost 4 km with just over 500 metres of climb. The path is mainly along a well-marked track. After rain, this track can be a bit slippy (it was designed this way – read the signs on the route to find out why!).

The track up to the monastery leaves Sant’Ambrogio behind the Church of Saint Giovanni Vincenzo, the main church in town. You can walk here from the train station, or there are also small car parks scattered around the nearby streets. If you head to the right after the church, you’ll soon reach the way up into the forest. The track then winds its way through the forest and up the hill.

Eventually, you’ll leave the forest and get to the little village of San Pietro. Head right in town and follow the small road as it bends to the left. Continue along the track and after a while, you’ll get to a T-junction of paths near the top. You get better views from the road rather than the track directly through the forest, so turn left at the T-junction. You’ll soon reach the car park. Walk right along the road and in less than ten minutes you’ll be at the Sacra of Saint Michele.

Walking back down from the Sacra of Saint Michele

You can either walk down from the monastery the way you came up or take a different route on the other side of Mount Pirchiriano. This second route is a bit longer, but you get some nice views of the monastery once you reach the bottom.

If you’ve taken the train, you can either walk back to Sant’Ambrogio or walk instead to Condove Chiusa S.Michele, the stop one further along. This second stop is closer once you reach the bottom of the hill (roughly 20 minutes versus 40 minutes walk).

Mount Pirchiriano Via Ferrata Sacra di San Michele

If you’re feeling adventurous, there’s also a Via Ferrata leading up to the monastery. It’s not difficult, but rather long and takes at least 3 hours. You can only go up the Via Ferrata, not down. Check the via ferrata official website for more details.

Sacra of Saint Michele Monastery Map

Visiting the Sacra of Saint Michele Monastery near Turin

On the way to the ticket office and monastery itself, you’ll first see a nice cafe on your right (see below) and an old ruin on your left. Continuing onwards, you walk up a cobbled road and the first set of sets to the ticket office. There are also toilets here.

After buying a ticket you can proceed through the gate and up some more stairs to the main entrance. Take some time to read the little booklet you got at the entrance, which explains where you are. Note, there are also QR codes dotted around the abbey that link to videos explaining more about the history, significance and architecture.

Heading through the doors you’ll reach a peculiar staircase – take care since it’s a bit dark and the steps are high, very wide, and a bit uneven. Coming out into the open, and after a few more stairs, you’ll enter the church itself. The architecture here is part Romanesque, part Gothic, with different sections dating from the 12th to 17th centuries.

Don’t miss the panoramic terrace, accessed from the church to the left of the route you’ll leave by. Leaving the church, you’ll descend into the ruins of the former monastery and see the Tower of Beautiful Alda. You can learn about the legend of this tower on-site.

When you’ve finished exploring, the way out leads along a small path at the base of the cliffs on which the monastery was built. You’ll pass through a one-way turnstile just before you return to the ticket office and the end of the visit to Sacra di San Michele.

Refreshments at the Monastery

There is one cafe, the Convivium Bar & Shop, roughly 100 metres before you reach the main entrance to the monastery. This cafe serves hot and cold drinks, sandwiches, and cakes at reasonable prices. It is open daily from 9:30 to 17:30 and has a panoramic terrace with great views. There’s also a gift shop if you want any souvenirs from your visit. You’ll also find a toilet next door.

Sacra of Saint Michele Viewpoints

You will often see amazing photos of the monastery perched on top of a rocky hill with mountains (sometimes snowy) in the background. You can’t take these nice photos without walking a little distance and having a proper camera with a zoom lens. A normal phone camera with no proper zoom won’t work that well.

To get to the closest viewpoint, walk a few metres up the path on the far side of the main car park, leading to the right of the road. Here you can see the monastery through the woods. For a better viewpoint, walk almost 500 metres further along the path. You’ll see a rock on the left and can get a photo of the monastery avoiding the trees.

Even further along the path, about 1.25 km (20 minutes) from the main car park, you’ll find the best viewpoint of the monastery. However, it’s now quite far away so a camera with a zoom lens is useful. On a phone camera, the monastery will be a little blurry.

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For more walks and hikes, check out our Italy Hiking Page.