Turin shroud goes on display for first time in five years [View all]

Stephanie Kirchgaessner

More than a million people from as far afield as Argentina and China are expected to head for Turin in the coming weeks to catch a glimpse of one of Christianity’s most controversial relics, which has gone on display for the first time in five years.

For true believers, the opportunity to shuffle past the holy shroud, a 4.3-metre (14ft) sheet said to be the burial cloth in which the crucified body of Christ was lain, is a rare opportunity.

The cloth, which is usually kept in a sealed container in a dark chapel next to the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist, has been put on display five times since 1933, but was only shown a few times every century before then.

Now, for the first time since 2010, when it was displayed to draw tourists to Turin, believers have another chance to see the cloth, whose true origin is still hotly debated.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/19/turin-shroud-on-display-for-first-time-in-five-years