The patron saint of Collegno is Saint Lawrence the Martyr, celebrated on the third Sunday of July: the church dedicated to him holds 18th-century sculptures by the important Turin sculptor Stefano Maria Clemente.
Collegno is known above all for its royal Charterhouse, a large complex built in open countryside that in 1853 became the seat of Turin's Royal Asylum, moved here thanks to its considerable size and extensive green areas, able to offer patients agricultural colonies to work in. Over the years the structure was expanded with the construction of 19th-century comb-arranged pavilions, becoming one of Italy's largest psychiatric facilities, until its final closure and the demolition of its boundary wall in 1977. Collegno's asylum was at the centre, in the 1920s, of the famous Bruneri-Canella case, known as the «Smemorato di Collegno» (Amnesiac of Collegno), an intricate romantic and judicial affair with national and international resonance that inspired numerous films and documentaries. Today the Charterhouse grounds form a large public park hosting healthcare activities, concerts and cultural events.
