THE SHRINE OF S. MARIA DI BARBANA. — Marian shrine situated on a small island off the Grado coast. Its origins date back to the time of the patriarch of Aquileia Elia (571–88), who also built a Benedictine monastery there. In 1513, Leo X suppressed the abbey, incorporating it into that of S. Maria in Sesto in Silvio near Portogruaro. Having passed to the Conventuals from 1577 until the Venetian suppression of 1769, in 1901 it was entrusted to the Friars Minor, who recently rebuilt the church, consecrated in 1936, and added spacious facilities for pilgrims, who are particularly numerous during the summer. The image of the Madonna was solemnly crowned on 15 Aug. 1863.
BIBL.: V. Meneghin, L'Isola della Madonna. Storia del santuario di S. Maria di Barbana nella laguna di Grado, Isola di Barbana 1950. Alberto Ghinato