Sanctuary of the Blessed Virgin of Saint Luke Santuario della Beata Vergine di San Luca (in Italian) | |
---|---|
Religion | |
Affiliation | Roman Catholic |
Ecclesiastical or organizational status | Minor basilica |
Location | |
Location | Bologna, Italy |
Geographic coordinates | 44°28′48″N11°17′53″E / 44.480°N 11.298°E |
Architecture | |
Architect(s) | Carlo Francesco Dotti Donato Fasano ContentsAngelo Venturoli |
Style | Baroque |
Groundbreaking | 1194 |
Completed | 1765 |
Website | |
www |
The Sanctuary of the Madonna of San Luca is a basilica church in Bologna, northern Italy, sited atop a forested hill, Colle or Monte della Guardia, some 300 metres above the city plain, just south-west of the historical centre of the city. [1]
While a road now leads up to the sanctuary, it is also possible to reach it along a 3.8 km monumental roofed arcade (Portico di San Luca) consisting of 666 arches, which was built in 1674–1793. It was meant to protect the icon as it was paraded up the hill. A yearly procession from the Cathedral of San Pietro in the centre of Bologna to the Sanctuary goes along this path. Originally the arches held icons or chapels erected by the patron family.
A church or chapel existed on the hill for about a thousand years. Tradition holds that in the 12th-century, a pilgrim from the Byzantine empire came to Bologna with an icon of the Virgin from the temple of Saint Sophia in Constantinople. In 1160, the bishop of Bologna Gerardo Grassi assigned the icon to a small hermitage-chapel atop the hill that was tended by two holy women, Azzolina and Beatrice Guezi. Construction of a church began in 1193. In 1294, some friars of the Dominican order from the monastery of Ronzano came to the site, and the order remained here until the Napoleonic suppression of 1799. [2]
The present church was constructed in 1723 using the designs of Carlo Francesco Dotti. The lateral external tribunes were built by Carlo Francesco's son, Giovanni Giacomo, using his father's plans. The centrally planned sanctuary has painted artworks by Domenico Pestrini, Donato Creti (second chapel on right); Guido Reni (Assumption in the third altar on the right), Giuseppe Maria Mazza in chapel of St. Anthony of Padua, Vittorio Bigari (frescoes) and Guercino (sacristy). Stucco works are by A. Borelli and G. Calegari and statues by Angelo Piò.
The road leading up to the church is often used in professional cycling races. The Italian autumn classic race Giro dell'Emilia finishes on a circuit where the riders have to climb the road several times. It has also been used in the Giro d'Italia, where it made its debut in 1956 in an individual time trial stage won by Charly Gaul. [3]
From 1931 to 1976 an aerial cable car operated from the base of the hill on the outskirts of Bologna, to the summit. The total distance covered in the 7 minute travel time was 1328m with a vertical difference of 220m. The operation was closed due to increased usage of private transport to ascend the hill. The top station is abandoned but intact, the bottom station has been converted into apartments but remains structurally the same, and the single pylon remains intact in a field. [4]
Noto is a city and comune in the Province of Syracuse, Sicily, Italy. It is 32 kilometres (20 mi) southwest of the city of Syracuse at the foot of the Iblean Mountains. It lends its name to the surrounding area Val di Noto. In 2002 Noto and its church were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Cortona is a town and comune in the province of Arezzo, in Tuscany, Italy. It is the main cultural and artistic centre of the Val di Chiana after Arezzo.
Breno is an Italian comune of 4,986 inhabitants in Val Camonica, province of Brescia, in Lombardy.
Greccio is an old hilltown and comune of the province of Rieti in the Italian region of Lazio, overhanging the Rieti Valley on a spur of the Monti Sabini, a sub-range of the Apennines, about 16 kilometres by road northwest of Rieti, the nearest large town.
The Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere ; English: Our Lady in Trastevere) is a titular minor basilica in the Trastevere district of Rome, and one of the oldest churches of Rome. The basic floor plan and wall structure of the church date back to the 340s, and much of the structure to 1140–43. The first sanctuary was built in 221 and 227 by Pope Callixtus I and later completed by Pope Julius I. The church has large areas of important mosaics from the late 13th century by Pietro Cavallini.
The Basilica of San Domenico is one of the major churches in Bologna, Italy. The remains of Saint Dominic, founder of the Order of Preachers (Dominicans), are buried inside the exquisite shrine Arca di San Domenico, made by Nicola Pisano and his workshop, Arnolfo di Cambio and with later additions by Niccolò dell'Arca and the young Michelangelo.
Pacentro is a comune of 1,279 inhabitants of the province of L'Aquila in Abruzzo, Italy. It is a well-preserved historic medieval village located in central Italy, several kilometers from the City of Sulmona about 170 kilometres (110 mi) east of Rome. It is one of I Borghi più belli d'Italia.
Pioraco is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Macerata in the Italian region Marche, located about 60 kilometres (37 mi) southwest of Ancona and about 40 kilometres (25 mi) southwest of Macerata.
Santa Maria in Via Lata is a church on the Via del Corso, in Rome, Italy. It stands diagonal from the church of San Marcello al Corso.
Santa Maria in Campitelli or Santa Maria in Portico is a church dedicated to the Virgin Mary on the narrow Piazza di Campitelli in Rione Sant'Angelo, Rome, Italy. The church is served by the Clerics Regular of the Mother of God.
The Giro dell'Emilia is a late season road bicycle race held annually in Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy. Since 2005, the race has been organised as a 1.HC event on the UCI Europe Tour, and since 2020 it's part of the UCI ProSeries calendar. The race starts from Bologna, it generally takes a tour of Appennino Tosco-Emiliano National Park and ends in Bologna with 5 reps on the brutal climbing ring of Sanctuary of the Madonna di San Luca. It is considered one of the most important and historical classic bicycle races of the calendar, the palmarès shows great champions like Coppi, Bartali, Merckx and Roglič.
The Abbey of Santa Giustina is a 10th-century Benedictine abbey complex located in front of the Prato della Valle in central Padua, region of Veneto, Italy. Adjacent to the former monastery is the basilica church of Santa Giustina, initially built in the 6th century, but whose present form derives from a 17th-century reconstruction.
Angelo Gabriello Piò was an Italian sculptor, active in Bologna in a Rococo style.
Carlo Francesco Dotti was an Italian architect from Bologna.
The Oratory of the Madonna of San Colombano, also called the Chiese di San Colombano e Santa Maria dell'Orazione is a religious site in central Bologna, found on Via Parigi #5, near the Bologna Cathedral.
Santa Maria Lacrimosa degli Alemanni is a small church and sanctuary, built during the Renaissance era, and located on Via Mazzini number 65 in central Bologna, Italy.
The Sanctuary of Santa Maria della Pioggia is a small church, located on Via Riva Reno 122, between Galliera road and Riva di Reno road in central Bologna, Italy. It was once the Oratory of San Bartolomeo di Reno.
Ferrara Charterhouse, of which the present Church of San Cristoforo alla Certosa was previously the monastic church, is a former charterhouse or Carthusian monastery built in Renaissance style, located on Piazza Borso 50 in Ferrara, Region of Emilia-Romagna, Italy. The monastery was suppressed in the time of Napoleon, but the church was reconsecrated in 1813 and remains in use. The site also accommodates a large municipal cemetery, which was established in 1813.
San Francesco is a Romanesque and Gothic-style, Roman Catholic church located at Piazza San Francesco in Pescia, region of Tuscany, Italy.
The Sanctuary of the Madonna di Belvedere is a Baroque-style, Roman Catholic church built atop a mountain a few miles outside of the town of Città di Castello, province of Perugia, in the region of Umbria, Italy.