Sanctuary of Santa Maria di Galloro, Ariccia

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The Sanctuary of Santa Maria di Galloro is a church located on the via Appia Nuova, near Ariccia on the road to Genzano di Roma, in the region of Lazio, in Italy.

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History

The cult of the Madonna di Galloro, a Madonna delle Grazie, began with the discovery of an image of the Virgin and child painted on a rock in a valley between Monte Cucco and Colle Pardo. The Pope Urban VIII Barberini patronized this popular devotion, and this led to the erection of the sanctuary between 1624 and 1633. It was placed under the feudal control of Benedictine monks of the Vallumbrosan Order, who built an adjacent monastery (1632-1634) under designs of Fra Michele da Bergamo. Between 1661 and 1663, Pope Alexander VII Chigi, whose family had a nearby palace and lands, commissioned a further reconstruction and a facade from Gian Lorenzo Bernini. In 1656, an annual (December 8) procession of the Signorina was institutionalized to celebrate the end of a plague epidemic.

Vacated of monks during the Napoleonic occupation, ultimately the monastery passed to the Jesuit order from 1816 till 1896, and after a few decades of Vallombrosian restoration, again came to be property of the Jesuits who own it today, and utilize it for religious retreats.

Interior and chapels

The interior decoration is not due to Bernini, but was mainly a product of commissions by the Vallombrosians monks, and some by the Jesuits in the 1920-1930s.

The cupola, damaged by earthquakes in 1893 and 1899, was frescoed in 1899 by Arturo Gatti. The spandrels were frescoed in the 17th century and depict Saints from the Vallombrosan order: the founder Giovanni Gualberto, Bernard bishop of Parma, Cardinal Tesauro Beccaria, and Pietro Igneo bishop of Albano.

The presbytery has a tempietto or small temple (1633), attributed to Bernini and commissioned by Cardinal Emmanuele Pio of Savoy, bishop of Albano. The icon of the Madonna di Galloro is ornamented by a gold crown donated by Pope Pius VII in 1816 and three roses donated by Charles the IV of Spain in 1817. An elaborate polychrome marble and precious stone mosaic altar was commissioned in 1867 by cardinal Giacomo Antonelli and Duke Grazioli. The relics of St Clement under the altar were donated by Pope Clement XI in 1716. The stucco statues flanking the entrance to the choir depict St Giovanni Gualberto and San Benedetto of Parma and were sculpted in 1751 by Tomaso Solaci. The ceiling was frescoed in 1910 by Emanuele Sciotti. [1]

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