The basilica was built in the early 1950s by well-known Sicilian architect Gaetano Rapisardi, who won the competition organised by the Pontifical Commission for Sacred Art on behalf of the Salesians.

On 12 September 1952 the foundation stone of the new building was laid by Cardinal Vicar Clemente Micara, but the actual work began about a year later; the church was inaugurated on 2 May 1959 with solemn consecration by Cardinal Benedetto Aloisi Masella, Protector of the Salesian Congregation; however, a good part of the interior was still to be built, and only in 1964 was the building completed according to the original plans.

The day after the consecration, on 3 May, the Pontiff, Pope John XXIII, visited the new church to pray in front of the casket of Don Bosco after whom the sacred building was named and which, for the occasion, had been transferred from Turin to Rome.

The church is a parish erected on 7 November 1953 by decree of the Cardinal Vicar Clemente Micara Pervigili, and entrusted to the Salesians who are the owners of the church.

Paul VI, with the Roman apostolic constitution haec sedes of 5 February 1965, elevated it to a cardinalate deaconry, with the name of St John Bosco in Via Tuscolana and, on 20 November following, promoted it to the dignity of a minor basilica with the apostolic letter Adulescentium patris.

Externally, the basilica is compact and dominated by two domes, the largest of which – with an architectural choice that anticipates the insights of the Second Vatican Council – is not the one placed above the sanctuary, but the first from the entrance, the one above the assembly: with a diameter of about 40 metres, it is the third among the churches in Rome, after the dome of the Pantheon and St Peter's Basilica.

The façade includes a high relief by Arturo Dazzi, depicting the Apotheosis of St John Bosco, accompanied by 6 marble statues, the Salesian Saints Francis de Sales and Joseph Cafasso, Popes Pius IX (who approved the Constitutions and the Salesian Society and was the first member of the Association of Salesian Cooperators) and Pius XI (who beatified and canonised Don Bosco) and the archangels Michael and Gabriel. Two other bronze statues of angels also appear in the porch – along with other subjects – and significant, throughout the basilica, is the depiction of angels, an expression of Don Bosco's great devotion to the guardian angel. In fact, angels are also represented in the side altars, in the bas-reliefs, in the windows, as statues... And there are 15 of them just in the large mosaic depicting St John Bosco in Glory by Giovanni Brancaccio, which serves as an altarpiece.

Also on the outside are the two symmetrical bell towers, on one of which the bells are installed, the result of a single fusion by the Colbachini foundry in Bassano del Grappa in 1957. It is one of the largest bell concerts in the Capital, both in number of bells and in tone.

The interior of the church has a basilica plan with three naves separated by pillars, and a transept. The central nave is illuminated by the large dome, while the side aisles are illuminated by 32 large chandeliers in gold and Murano glass, handmade with floral and angel motifs. In the pillars, which separate the naves, are set the bronze tiles of the Via Crucis by Venanzo Crocetti.

The interiors of the two domes are decorated with mosaics: that of the smaller dome depicts different Christian symbols alternated with Latin writings; those of the large dome represent some of the most significant dreams of Don Bosco.

The church is then richly decorated with polychrome windows, which create a particular scenic effect. The main windows are located in the drums of the two domes: in the drum of the main dome there are Stories from the Bible; while in the drum of the smaller one, The seven sacraments and the Works of Mercy.

The church also houses a Tamburini pipe organ opus 394, built between 1958 and 1959, among the largest in Italy, with 70 registers for a total of 5,274 pipes and 13 tubular bells.

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