Description
The Sanctuary of the Madonna dell'Olmo is a neoclassical church 280 meters above the Gulf of La Spezia, on the slopes of Monte Santa Croce above the village of Fabiano. Every year in May a pilgrimage climbs up here.
The heart of the sanctuary is a small painting on slate, the Madonna and Child, kept on the Baroque central altar. It measures 63 by 47 centimeters, and it is the image from which the whole devotion was born.
It shows the Madonna holding the Child, with Saint Joseph on the right and, on the left, a saint who for centuries was believed to be Saint John or Saint Anthony of Padua. More recently he has been identified as Saint Nicholas of Tolentino, from the star on his chest and the lily.
The building has a sober look. It has a facade marked by pilasters with a pediment and, above it, an octagonal dome. The interior has a single nave. Over the portal a plaque records that the building took its final form in 1849, the fruit of the piety of the area's poor farmers.
The story begins around 1640. The image was painted on a slab of slate set in a dry-stone wall along the road between Fabiano and Biassa, and passersby would stop to pray. Neither the artist nor the date is known.
The devotion grew so fast that in 1659 the bishop of Sarzana had the image enclosed with boards. Above them he had it written that no one should dare remove them, on pain of excommunication.
The same year the townspeople pledged by notarial deed to build a church for it, blessed in 1667. It was small, and for over a hundred years the pilgrims kept growing in number, until it was no longer enough.
In 1838 the heads of families unanimously decided to build a larger one, also to thank the Madonna after the plague of 1817. They did everything themselves: the richest paid 80 cents every month, the others 40 or 20.
Every family worked for free one day a month and brought materials on Sundays. Work began in 1839 and the sanctuary was blessed on Easter Monday in 1844.
The name comes from a large elm that grew in the churchyard. Before that the image was called Madonna del Monte or Madonna della Costa. In 1963 the gold offerings of the faithful were melted down to make four crowns, two for the painting and two for the statues.
The feast is on the second Sunday in May. On the eve, a large wooden group reproducing the figures of the painting is carried in procession from the church of Fabiano Alto to the sanctuary, and the following Sunday it returns to its place.
The heart of the sanctuary is a small painting on slate, the Madonna and Child, kept on the Baroque central altar. It measures 63 by 47 centimeters, and it is the image from which the whole devotion was born.
It shows the Madonna holding the Child, with Saint Joseph on the right and, on the left, a saint who for centuries was believed to be Saint John or Saint Anthony of Padua. More recently he has been identified as Saint Nicholas of Tolentino, from the star on his chest and the lily.
The building has a sober look. It has a facade marked by pilasters with a pediment and, above it, an octagonal dome. The interior has a single nave. Over the portal a plaque records that the building took its final form in 1849, the fruit of the piety of the area's poor farmers.
The story begins around 1640. The image was painted on a slab of slate set in a dry-stone wall along the road between Fabiano and Biassa, and passersby would stop to pray. Neither the artist nor the date is known.
The devotion grew so fast that in 1659 the bishop of Sarzana had the image enclosed with boards. Above them he had it written that no one should dare remove them, on pain of excommunication.
The same year the townspeople pledged by notarial deed to build a church for it, blessed in 1667. It was small, and for over a hundred years the pilgrims kept growing in number, until it was no longer enough.
In 1838 the heads of families unanimously decided to build a larger one, also to thank the Madonna after the plague of 1817. They did everything themselves: the richest paid 80 cents every month, the others 40 or 20.
Every family worked for free one day a month and brought materials on Sundays. Work began in 1839 and the sanctuary was blessed on Easter Monday in 1844.
The name comes from a large elm that grew in the churchyard. Before that the image was called Madonna del Monte or Madonna della Costa. In 1963 the gold offerings of the faithful were melted down to make four crowns, two for the painting and two for the statues.
The feast is on the second Sunday in May. On the eve, a large wooden group reproducing the figures of the painting is carried in procession from the church of Fabiano Alto to the sanctuary, and the following Sunday it returns to its place.