The Sanctuary of the Madonna of San Luca is a basilica church in

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...

, northern

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 ...

, 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. While a road now leads up to the sanctuary, it is also possible to reach it along a 3.8 km monumental roofed

arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated game machine ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade game's hardware ** Arcade system board, a standardized printed circuit board * Amusement arcade, a place with arcade games * ...

( 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.

History

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 Sofia 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 The Order of Preachers ( la, Ordo Praedicatorum) abbreviated OP, also known as the Dominicans, is a Catholic mendicant order of Pontifical Right for men founded in Toulouse, France, by the Spanish priest, saint and mystic Dominic of Cal ...

from the monastery of Ronzano came to the site, and the order remained here until the Napoleonic suppression of 1799. The present church was constructed in 1723 using the designs of

Carlo Francesco Dotti Carlo Francesco Dotti (baptized January 1, 1670 – June 3, 1759) was an Italian architect from Bologna. Life Carlo Francesco Dotti was born and died in Bologna, where he became one of the main protagonists of the late Baroque style. His ...

. 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 Donato Creti (24 February 1671 – 31 January 1749) was an Italian painter of the Rococo period, active mostly in Bologna. Born in Cremona, he moved to Bologna, where he was a pupil of Lorenzo Pasinelli. He is described by Wittkower as the "Bol ...

(second chapel on right);

Guido Reni Guido Reni (; 4 November 1575 – 18 August 1642) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, although his works showed a classical manner, similar to Simon Vouet, Nicolas Poussin, and Philippe de Champaigne. He painted primarily religious ...

(''Assumption'' in the third altar on the right),

Giuseppe Maria Mazza Giuseppe Maria Mazza (13 May 1653 – 6 June 1741) was one of the leading sculptors of Bologna, Italy, in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. He was trained as a painter, but is best known for his fine sculptural work in terracotta and stucco. ...

in chapel of St. Anthony of Padua,

Vittorio Bigari Vittorio Bigari (1692 – 1776) was an Italian painter of the late-Baroque period. Biography He was born in Bologna in 1692. His main biographer was Zanotti. He was initially trained in the art of stucco and sculpture, a pupil of Antonio D ...

(frescoes) and

Guercino Giovanni Francesco Barbieri (February 8, 1591 – December 22, 1666),Miller, 1964 better known as Guercino, or il Guercino , was an Italian Baroque painter and draftsman from Cento in the Emilia region, who was active in Rome and Bologna. The vig ...

(sacristy).

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 ...

works are by A. Borelli and G. Calegari and statues by

Angelo Piò Angelo Gabriello Piò (Bologna, 1690- Bologna, 1770) was an Italian sculptor, active in Bologna in a Rococo style. Life In Bologna, he studied from 1711 to 1712 under Andrea Ferreri (1673–1744) . He was also a pupil of Giuseppe Maria Mazza. A ...

Cycling

The road leading up to the church is often used in professional cycling races. The Italian autumn

classic A classic is an outstanding example of a particular style; something of lasting worth or with a timeless quality; of the first or highest quality, class, or rank – something that exemplifies its class. The word can be an adjective (a ''c ...

race

Giro dell'Emilia 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 ...

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 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim ...

in an

individual time trial An individual time trial (ITT) is a road bicycle race in which cyclists race alone against the clock (in French: ''contre la montre'' – literally "against the watch", in Italian: ''tappa a cronometro'' "stopwatch stage"). There are also track-b ...

stage won by

Charly Gaul Charly Gaul Sporting Cyclist, UK, undated cutting (8 December 1932 – 6 December 2005) From 1931 to 1976 an aerial

cable car Cable car most commonly refers to the following cable transportation systems: * Aerial lift, such as aerial tramways and gondola lifts, in which the vehicle is suspended in the air from a cable ** Aerial tramway ** Chairlift ** Gondola lift *** Bi ...

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.

External links

Municipality of Bologna

References

Basilica churches in Bologna Shrines to the Virgin Mary Baroque architecture in Bologna 18th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Roman Catholic churches completed in 1765 1193 establishments in Europe 12th-century establishments in Italy 1723 establishments in Italy Monuments and historic places of Bologna {{Italy-church-stub