CARAVAGGIO, SANCTUARY OF THE MADONNA OF. - The greatest Marian sanctuary in Lombardy, about 2 km. from C. (province of Bergamo), to which it is joined by a grand avenue. It owes its origin to an apparition of the Virgin to a humble peasant woman, Giovannetta or Giannetta di Pietro Vacchi (26 May 1432), on the meadow known as that of Massalengo. Its fame spread very soon, even far away, and Giovannetta was received at the court of the Sforzas and of the emperor of Constantinople, Constantine Palaiologos. On the site of the apparition a spring still flows today, whose water is also used for baths for the sick.
The first church at the sanctuary was erected by Duke Filippo Maria Sforza in 1451. The present church, 93 m. long, 33 wide, with a dome 64 high, was built, in place of another threatening ruin, by the architect Tibaldo Pellegrino known as il Tibaldi, at the wish of St. Charles Borromeo. The construction, however, lasted from 1575 until the close of the 18th century, and its pictorial decoration was completed by two Caravaggio artists, Giovanni Moriggia in 1854 and Luigi Cavenaghi between 1891 and 1901. The temple is in the form of a Latin cross, with a sumptuous little shrine beneath the dome. The image of the Virgin was crowned in 1710.
The principal feast of the sanctuary, at which there is the greatest concourse of the faithful, is 26 May, and also 15 Aug. and 16 Sept. Attached to the sanctuary there is also a hospice for pilgrims.
Bibliography2 worksC. Ravasi, La Madonna di C., Milano 1928; A. Salvini, Santuari Mariani d'Italia, Alba 1940, p. 77.
BIBL.: C. Ravasi, La Madonna di C., Milano 1928; A. Salvini, Santuari Mariani d'Italia, Alba 1940, p. 77.
Leccisotti, Tommaso. “Caravaggio, santuario della madonna di.” In Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. III, coll. 763–764. Città del Vaticano: Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1949. https://azioneromana.com/article/caravaggio-santuario-della-madonna-di-2.
MLA
Leccisotti, Tommaso. “Caravaggio, santuario della madonna di.” Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. III, Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1949, coll. 763–764. Azione Romana, https://azioneromana.com/article/caravaggio-santuario-della-madonna-di-2.
BibTeX
@incollection{ec3_caravaggio_santuario_della_mad,
author = {Leccisotti, Tommaso},
title = {Caravaggio, santuario della madonna di},
booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica},
volume = {III},
pages = {763--764},
note = {Cited by column},
publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico},
address = {Città del Vaticano},
year = {1949},
url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/caravaggio-santuario-della-madonna-di-2}
}
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