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The Santuario di Vicoforte (also known as Santuario Regina Montis Regalis) is a monumental church located in the
Santuario Di Vicoforte
(official website) {{Coord, 44.366667, N, 7.85, E, source:frwiki_region:IT_type:landmark, format=dms, display=title Roman Catholic churches completed in 1884 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Basilica churches in Piedmont Churches in the province of Cuneo Baroque architecture in Piedmont Church buildings with domes Vicoforte
commune
A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to:
Administrative-territorial entities
* Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township
** Communes of ...
of Vicoforte
Vicoforte is a ''comune'' in the Province of Cuneo in Italy. It is located in Val Corsaglia at above sea level, east of Cuneo and from Mondovì.
It is known mainly for the Santuario di Vicoforte, built between 1596 and 1733 to honour the Virgin ...
, province of Cuneo
Cuneo (Italian), or Coni (Piedmontese), is a province in the southwest of the Piedmont region of Italy. To the west it borders on the French region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur ( departments of Alpes-Maritimes, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence and Haut ...
, Piedmont
it, Piemontese
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, 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 ...
. It is known for having the largest elliptical
Elliptical may mean:
* having the shape of an ellipse, or more broadly, any oval shape
** in botany, having an elliptic leaf shape
** of aircraft wings, having an elliptical planform
* characterised by ellipsis (the omission of words), or by conc ...
cupola
In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, most often dome-like, tall structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome.
The word derives, via Italian, from ...
in the world.
History
It originated as a small medievalsanctuary
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 ...
, consisting of a modest shrine containing a fifteenth-century fresco depicting a Madonna and Child
In art, a Madonna () is a representation of Mary, either alone or with her child Jesus. These images are central icons for both the Catholic and Orthodox churches. The word is (archaic). The Madonna and Child type is very prevalent in ...
. Around 1590 a shooting party passed by and a huntsman accidentally struck the image of the Virgin. According to legend, she began to bleed. The penitent huntsman added his arquebus
An arquebus ( ) is a form of long gun that appeared in Europe and the Ottoman Empire during the 15th century. An infantryman armed with an arquebus is called an arquebusier.
Although the term ''arquebus'', derived from the Dutch word ''Haakbus ...
to the shrine and began to collect the large sum of money which would be needed to repair the damage and expiate his sin. Today the arquebus is preserved in a chapel of the sanctuary near the fresco which it had disfigured.
In time the place became a centre of pilgrimage. An early visitor was the duke Charles Emmanuel I of Savoy
Charles Emmanuel I ( it, Carlo Emanuele di Savoia; 12 January 1562 – 26 July 1630), known as the Great, was the Duke of Savoy from 1580 to 1630. He was nicknamed (, in context "the Hot-Headed") for his rashness and military aggression.
Being ...
who, in 1596, commissioned the construction of a large sanctuary from the court architect Ascanio Vitozzi
Ascanio Vitozzi (also spelled Ascanio Baschi di Vitozzo or Vittozzi) (1539–1615) was an Italian soldier, architect, and military engineer.
Born at Orvieto, the son of Ercole Lord of Montevitozzo (or Vitozzo), he fought in the Papal army in his ...
. However the death of both the duke (who had wanted to be buried here), and of the architect, put a stop to the building work.
Construction was resumed in the eighteenth century under Francesco Gallo
Francesco, the Italian (and original) version of the personal name " Francis", is the most common given name among males in Italy. Notable persons with that name include:
People with the given name Francesco
* Francesco I (disambiguation), sev ...
who built the great elliptical cupola which has major and minor diameters of respectively. It is said that Gallo was required to remove the scaffolding himself, as nobody thought that a structure of this type would be able to stand on its own.
The decoration in 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 ...
of the of the cupola’s vault was completed in 1752 by Mattia Bortoloni
Mattia Bortoloni (31 March 1696 – 9 June 1750) was an important painter of the early Italian Rococo period. He began his career as a student of Antonio Balestra of Verona and was active throughout northern Italy.
Biography
For many years th ...
and Felice Biella Felice is a name that can be used as both a given name, masculine or feminine, and a surname. It is a common name in Italian, where it is equivalent to Felix. Notable people with the name include:
Given name Arts and literature Film and theater
*F ...
, and the sanctuary finally attained its current form in 1884, when the campanili were built along with the three façades.
On December 15, 2017, after years of planning, the remains of Queen Elena of Italy, were secretly transferred from Montpellier
Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of ...
, France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
, to the chapel of San Bernardo inside the sanctuary. Two days later, the remains of King Vittorio Emanuele III of Italy were transferred from St. Catherine's Cathedral, Alexandria
The St. Catherine's Cathedral ( ar, كاتدرائية سانت كاترين) is the Roman Catholic cathedral of the Apostolic Vicariate of Alexandria of Egypt. It also serves as the church of the Franciscan monastery in Alexandria.
History
The b ...
, Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
, where he had died in exile, and interred alongside the former queen.
See also
*History of early modern period domes
Domes built in the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries relied primarily on empirical techniques and oral traditions rather than the architectural treatises of the time, but the study of dome structures changed radically due to developments in mathemati ...
References
External links
Santuario Di Vicoforte
(official website) {{Coord, 44.366667, N, 7.85, E, source:frwiki_region:IT_type:landmark, format=dms, display=title Roman Catholic churches completed in 1884 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Basilica churches in Piedmont Churches in the province of Cuneo Baroque architecture in Piedmont Church buildings with domes Vicoforte