Madonna del Boden Sanctuary
This is an ideal excursion to spend a quiet afternoon, it can be done together with the other route in the same area: Ancient quarry of Ornavasso.
On September 7, 1528 a shepherdess, such Maria Della Torre, belonging to an ancient family of the village, finding herself in the forest above the Boden to graze the flock, overwhelmed by sleep, fell asleep, waking up late at night. Frightened by the solitude and the darkness of the night and sorrowful for the loss of livestock, she invoked Our Lady. Suddenly he felt the ground failing beneath his feet and he found himself falling from a cliff. At that moment a very bright light began to surround her and she, having reached the end of the miraculously unharmed precipice, saw nearby the little chapel of the Boden and gathered around it her own cattle. Thanked the Virgin of the prodigy and begged her to help her find the way back, she came from the same light accompanied to the piano, where she met her mother and other women who were looking for her and who were amazed by the unusual light from which she was surrounded.
In the aftermath of the miracle, the population started the construction of a church, expanding the primitive chapel. As early as 1550 the new building was consecrated and Mass was celebrated there. In 1761 the church began to be enlarged: construction of a large choir, opening of two chapels on the sides of the main altar, construction of a comfortable home for the caretaker. At the end of these renovations, the church takes the form of a Latin cross and since then it has been called the Sanctuary. In the following years, the interior was embellished with marble finishing (altars and balustrades), laying of paintings of good workmanship, setting up of a valuable organ. In preparation for the third centenary of the miracle, in 1825 the work of enlarging the church began, transforming it into a temple with three naves. On the occasion of the feast of 1828, the architectural and pictorial decoration works were inaugurated with great exultation of the people, with general lighting of the village, fireworks, military band and rich and abundant offers. In 1863 the choir vault was raised. In the year 1930, various building works were carried out: extension of the choir in circular form, laying of the balustrades to the side chapels and the floor of the central nave. In 1952 the apsidal basin was built. The church's painting works were carried out by the Beato Angelico School of Milan from 1953 to 1956.
It is also worth stopping at the Church of St. Nicholas, on the road to the Madonna del Boden to visit another magnificent example of 16th century religious architecture.
How to reach Ornavasso from Hotel Edelweiss - Bognanco Terme
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