The Sanctuary of Madonna dei Miracoli ("Holy Mary of Miracles") is a church in

Alcamo Alcamo (; scn, Àrcamu, italic=no) is the fourth-largest town and commune of the Province of Trapani, Sicily, with a population of 44.925 inhabitants. It is on the borderline with the Metropolitan City of Palermo at a distance of about 50 kilo ...

province of Trapani Trapani ( it, Provincia di Trapani, scn, Pruvincia di Tràpani; officially ''Libero consorzio comunale di Trapani'') is a province in the autonomous island region of Sicily, southern Italy. Following the suppression of the Sicilian provinces, it ...

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

, southern

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

; it is dedicated to the

Madonna of the Miracles Our Lady of Miracles (or Madonna of Miracles) is the patron saint of the town of Alcamo. Historical hints The cult of Madonna of Miracles in Alcamo dates back to 21 June 1547, the day people remember the Madonna's apparition to some women near ...

(the

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...

of Alcamo).

History

The sanctuary was built in 1547 by order of the governor and captain of justice of Alcamo Fernando Vega and following the discovery of an

icon An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Catholic churches. They are not simply artworks; "an icon is a sacred image used in religious devotion". The most ...

of Madonna of Miracles in a small chapel which had been abandoned.Comune di Alcamo – Santuario di Maria Santissima dei Miracoli
/ref> Afterwards the sanctuary was modified several times, with a restoration in the first years of the 18th century. In 1754 it was aggregated to the

Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore The Basilica of Saint Mary Major ( it, Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, ; la, Basilica Sanctae Mariae Maioris), or church of Santa Maria Maggiore, is a Major papal basilica as well as one of the Seven Pilgrim Churches of Rome and the larges ...

of Rome; in 1784 there was the solemn coronation of Our Lady of Miracles. In 1901 they founded here the pious congregation ''Le predilette di Maria''. In 2015, in connection with the

Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy The Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy ( la, Iubilaeum Extraordinarium Misericordiae) was a Catholic period of prayer held from 8 December 2015, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, to 20 November 2016, the Feast of Christ the King. Like pre ...

, the sanctuary was proclaimed "

Holy Door A Holy Door ( la, Porta Sancta) is traditionally an entrance portal located within the Papal major basilicas in Rome. The doors are normally sealed by mortar and cement from the inside so that they cannot be opened. They are ceremoniously open ...

" of Alcamo, together with the

Basilica of Our Lady of the Assumption The Basilica of Santa Maria Assunta ("Our Lady's Assumption", also called mother church) is a 14th-century basilica in Alcamo, province of Trapani, Sicily, southern Italy. It is named after the Assumption of Mary, Assumption. History The ...

Descriptions and works

You can reach the

sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred place, such as a shrine. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This secondary use can be categorized into human sanctuary, a saf ...

through a downhill pebbled

footpath A footpath (also pedestrian way, walking trail, nature trail) is a type of thoroughfare that is intended for use only by pedestrians and not other forms of traffic such as motorized vehicles, bicycles and horses. They can be found in a wide ...

which leads to a large flight of steps near the church. The sanctuary, in a

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

Renaissance style Renaissance architecture is the European architecture of the period between the early 15th and early 16th centuries in different regions, demonstrating a conscious revival and development of certain elements of Ancient Greece, ancient Greek and ...

,trapaniwelcome – Santuario di Maria SS. dei Miracoli
/ref> has got two façades with two different portals. On the main façade, opposite the footpath, there is a

jut window Jut or JUT may refer to: * Topographic Jut, a measure of the impressiveness of a summit * Jharkhand University of Technology, a state university in the state of Jharkhand, India * Jut, Iran, a village in Hormozgan Province, Iran * Jut Line, a nei ...

surrounded by two smaller ones. Calata al Santuario della Madonna dei Miracoli di Alcamo - 14

The interior of the sanctuary has a single

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

with 8 altars, there are also some

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and a ...

es by

Nicolò Curti Nicolò () is an Italian male given name. Another variation is Niccolò, most common in Tuscany. It may refer to: * Nicolò Albertini, statesman * Nicolò Amati, luthier * Nicolò Barella, Italian footballer * Nicolò Barattieri, Italian engineer ...

made in 1762. On the

vault Vault may refer to: * Jumping, the act of propelling oneself upwards Architecture * Vault (architecture), an arched form above an enclosed space * Bank vault, a reinforced room or compartment where valuables are stored * Burial vault (enclosure ...

of the sanctuary there is a

fresco Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaste ...

representing the glorification of

Our Lady of Miracles Our Lady of Miracles (or Madonna of Miracles) is the patron saint of the town of Alcamo. Historical hints The cult of Madonna of Miracles in Alcamo dates back to 21 June 1547, the day people remember the Madonna's apparition to some women near ...

, while in the

apse In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an ''exedra''. In ...

there is a second fresco with the apparition of Our Lady of Miracles to a group of women, and a third one with the founding of Our Lady of Miracles. These three works were realized in 1947 by , a painter from

Catania Catania (, , Sicilian and ) is the second largest municipality in Sicily, after Palermo. Despite its reputation as the second city of the island, Catania is the largest Sicilian conurbation, among the largest in Italy, as evidenced also by ...

.Cataldo, Carlo (1982). Guida storico-artistica dei beni culturali di Alcamo-Calatafimi-Castellammare del Golfo-Salemi-Vita. Alcamo: Edizioni Sarograf. These are the other works: * Next to the main entrance, on the left, there is the marble

sarcophagus A sarcophagus (plural sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a box-like funeral receptacle for a corpse, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from the Greek ...

made by Rocco di Rapi in 1557Gloriosa Trinità – Per mezzo di Maria – Santuario di Maria Santissima dei Miracoli
/ref> and containing the mortal remains of Don Fernando Vega. * First left altar: the Nativity of the Virgin Mary, a painting made in 1851 by

Giuseppe Patania Giuseppe Patania (January 18, 1780 – February 23, 1852) was an Italian painter of the Neoclassical period. He painted portraits and historical subjects. Biography He was born in Palermo, Sicily. He studied with Giuseppe Velasco Giuseppe ...

, a painter from

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...

. * In the chapel dedicated to Maria Santissima dei Miracoli, surrounded by a round red marble arc, you can admire the painting representing Our Lady of Miracles.trapaniplus – Santuario Maria SS. dei Miracoli
On 21 June 1784 the Madonna's image was crowned. The picture was painted a second time in 1890, following a fire, and restored in 1963 by the Sicilian painter . * Third left altar: the

Holy Family The Holy Family consists of the Child Jesus, the Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph. The subject became popular in art from the 1490s on, but veneration of the Holy Family was formally begun in the 17th century by Saint François de Laval, the first ...

, a canvas made by Patania in 1847 * High altar: Our Lady of Miracles with

saint Rocco Roch (lived c. 1348 – 15/16 August 1376/79 (traditionally c. 1295 – 16 August 1327, also called Rock in English, is a Catholic saint, a confessor whose death is commemorated on 16 August and 9 September in Italy; he is especially invoked a ...

saint Sebastian Saint Sebastian (in Latin: ''Sebastianus''; Narbo, Gallia Narbonensis, Roman Empire c. AD 255 – Rome, Italia, Roman Empire c. AD 288) was an early Christian saint and martyr. According to traditional belief, he was killed during the Dioclet ...

and

saint Rosalia Rosalia (1130–1166), also called La Santuzza or "''The Little Saint''", and in Sicilian as "Rusulia", is the patron saint of Palermo in Italy, Camargo, Chihuahua, and three towns in Venezuela: El Hatillo, Zuata, and El Playon. She is es ...

(co-patrons of the town of Alcamo) during the end of the

plague Plague or The Plague may refer to: Agriculture, fauna, and medicine *Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis'' * An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural) * A pandemic caused by such a disease * A swarm of pes ...

in 1575, painted by Patania in 1828 * First right altar: the

Annunciation The Annunciation (from Latin '), also referred to as the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Annunciation of Our Lady, or the Annunciation of the Lord, is the Christian celebration of the biblical tale of the announcement by the ange ...

, painted by Patania in 1851 * Second right altar: the

Crucifixion Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the victim is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross or beam and left to hang until eventual death from exhaustion and asphyxiation. It was used as a punishment by the Persians, Carthagin ...

, painted by Patania in 1847 * Next to the main entrance, on the right: a white marble

holy water stoup A holy water font or stoup is a vessel containing holy water which is generally placed near the entrance of a church. It is often placed at the base of a crucifix or religious representation. It is used in the Catholic Church, Anglican Churches ...

, probable work of the 17th century * On the right wall of the nave there is a beautiful marble medallion representing Judith by

Gagini The Gagini or Gaggini were a family of architects and sculptors, originally from Bissone on Lake Lugano. This family founded Sicily's Gagini school, which flourished until the mid-1600s. Notable members One of the most notable members include ...

, coming from the church of the Annunciation. Inside the

sacristy A sacristy, also known as a vestry or preparation room, is a room in Christian churches for the keeping of vestments (such as the alb and chasuble) and other church furnishings, sacred vessels, and parish records. The sacristy is usually located ...

there are: * the Founding of the image of Our Lady of Miracles, painting made by

Sebastiano Bagolino Sebastiano Bagolino was a Latin poet and scholar. Biography He was born in Alcamo, in the province of Trapani, from Giovan Leonardo, a painter, and Caterina Tabone.F. M. Mirabella, Cenni degli alcamesi rinomati in scienze, lettere, arti, armi e ...

* the Nativity of the Virgin Mary, made by Father Felice from Sambuca * the

Immaculate The Immaculate Conception is the belief that the Virgin Mary was free of original sin from the moment of her conception. It is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church, meaning that it is held to be a divinely revealed truth w ...

, made by Father Felice from Sambuca too.

Rites and celebrations

Calata al Santuario della Madonna dei Miracoli di Alcamo - 06

Traditionally, during the month of May (dedicated to Our Lady), believers go to the sanctuary through the footpath, saying their prayers during the descent. Every year, on 19, 20 and 21 June, inside the Church there are the celebrations in honour of Madonna of Miracles: this is the most important religious feast in Alcamo.Comune di Alcamo, "Le tradizioni popolari – La festa della Madonna dei Miracoli"
/ref>

References

Sources

* * *

External links