From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

Madonna di San Luca, Bologna

Basilica church in Bologna, Italy

Summary

Basilica church in Bologna, Italy

Field	Value
building_name	Sanctuary of the Blessed Virgin
of Saint Luke
Santuario della Beata Vergine di San Luca
image	Santuario della Beata Vergine di San Luca.jpg
image_size	250px
caption	The sanctuary of the Virgin of Saint Luke
on the top of the Colle della Guardia
location	Bologna, ITA Italy
geo
religious_affiliation	Roman Catholic
status	Minor basilica
website
architect	Carlo Francesco Dotti
Donato Fasano
Giovanni Antonio Ferri
Giovanni Giacomo Dotti
Angelo Venturoli
architecture_style	Baroque
groundbreaking	1194
year_completed	1765
specifications	no

of Saint Luke Santuario della Beata Vergine di San Luca on the top of the Colle della Guardia Donato Fasano Giovanni Antonio Ferri Giovanni Giacomo Dotti Angelo Venturoli

The Sanctuary of the Madonna of San Luca is a basilica church located in Bologna, northern Italy, situated atop the forested hill of Colle (or Monte) della Guardia, approximately 300 metres above the city plain, just southwest of the historical centre.

Although a modern road leads to the sanctuary, it is more traditionally accessed via a 3.8 km-long monumental portico consisting of 666 arches, constructed between 1674 and 1793. This covered arcade, part of the Porticoes of Bologna UNESCO World Heritage Site, was originally designed to shelter the annual procession of the sacred icon of the Virgin Mary from the cathedral in central Bologna to the sanctuary. Many of the arches were originally sponsored by prominent families, and some included icons or small chapels.

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 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.

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.

File:Panorama di Bologna dal Santuario di San Luca.jpg|Panoramic view of Bologna from the Sanctuary File:Bologna, santuario della Madonna di San Luca (04).jpg|View of the Sanctuary della Madonna di San Luca File:Madonna di San Luca.jpg|The icon of the Virgin Mary, traditionally attributed to Luke the Evangelist

Cycling

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. The climb featured in the final part of Stage 2 of the 2024 Tour de France.

Cable car

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.

Portico di San Luca

The Portico di San Luca is a monumental 3.8-kilometre covered arcade in Bologna, consisting of 666 arches. It links the historic city gate, Porta Saragozza, to the hilltop Sanctuary of the Madonna di San Luca on Colle della Guardia. Constructed between 1674 and 1793, the arcade was originally designed to shelter the annual religious procession in which the icon of the Virgin Mary is carried from the sanctuary to Bologna Cathedral.

It is widely recognized as the longest portico in the world and represents one of the most distinctive architectural and cultural landmarks of Bologna. In 2021, the Portico di San Luca was inscribed as part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site titled The Porticoes of Bologna.

File:Bologna - Santuario della Madonna di San Luca - 2023-09-13 12-59-39 001.jpg|The Portico di San Luca winding through the hills toward the sanctuary File:Bologna, Santuario della Madonna di San Luca 001.JPG|The Portico di San Luca File:Portico di San Luca.jpg|Stairway section of the Portico di San Luca in Bologna, featuring one of its 666 arches

References

Nicoletti, Giovanna. (2001). "Miracoli dipinti: per dire grazie alla Madonna di San Luca". Edizioni Nautilus.
[http://www.sanlucabo.org/storia1.html History of the Church] {{Webarchive. link. (2016-03-04 .)
(10 May 2019). "Blazin' Saddles: The Big Five who can win the 2019 Giro d'Italia".
"Stage 2 - Cesenatico > Bologne - Tour de France 2024".
"Funivia di San Luca".
"Informazioni Portico di San Luca".
"Portico di San Luca (Part of Porticoes of Bologna)".
"Sanctuary of San Luca and the world’s longest portico".

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

basilica-churches-in-bologna shrines-to-the-virgin-mary baroque-church-buildings-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

Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about Madonna di San Luca, Bologna — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report