Grande Toro incident - Basilica of Superga

The Basilica of Superga is one of the symbols of the city of Turin but it’s also the site where the biggest tragedy of Italian football took place. 

On the 4th of May 1949 at 5.05 pm the plane carrying the Grande Torino players back home after a transfer to Lisbon, crashed into the hill of Superga. In the crash, all 31 people on board died.

The first who realize the tragedy were the inhabitants of the hill. After having witnessed the crash, they were led by the column of black smoke in front of a chilling spectacle: a four metre breach opened by the burning aircraft.

On the day of the funeral almost a million people took the streets in Turin to give the last farewell to the players. Since then, every year in the Basilica of Superga is celebrated a Mass in memory of the tragedy. 

On the site of the disaster there is a tombstone with the names of the fallen and during the Mass the captain of the Toro team commemorates the players by quoting them one by one.