Shrine to Mary of Grace (Curtatone)
The Sanctuary of Maria Gnaden ( Italian Santuario della Beata Vergine delle Grazie ) is a pilgrimage church in Grazie, a fraction of the Italian municipality Curtatone near Mantua , Lombardy . The church of the diocese of Mantua was built in the Lombard-Gothic style at the beginning of the 15th century and has from immemorabili the title of a minor basilica .
history
The origins of the church go back to around 1200, earlier speculations also exist. In what was then Prato Lamberto, a small altar with the image of the Virgin and Child, worshiped by fishermen and farmers, was set up on a raised promontory surrounded by Mincio reeds . Over the years the importance increased and the small altar was converted into a sanctuary with a votive chapel to protect the sacred image from the elements. At the end of the 14th century, after a plague epidemic, Count Francesco I Gonzaga commissioned the architect Bartolino da Novara with the construction of a Marian shrine, an inscription still reminds of this. The church was consecrated in mid-August 1406 in the presence of the builder and the bishops of Mantua and Cremona. From 1412 until the end of the century, the monastery, school, oratory and library were built. For the Mass of Porto , which Margrave Federico II Gonzaga moved here on August 11, 1425 , a portico with 52 arches was built around Sagrato Square in 1521 to accommodate the traders.
The construction of the basilica increased the popularity of the place, and more and more pilgrims from the surrounding area flocked there, in addition, Emperor Charles V and Pope Pius II paid homage to the miraculous image. This was the beginning of a series of donations that changed the original architectural structure; some significant Mantuan families built private chapels attached to the monastery or inside the church to burial their ancestors. The construction of the mausoleum of Castiglioni by Giulio Romano , who also helped design the sacristy, which was built with an altar in 1642, is significant . At the same time, a new wing with a portico was added to the square.
In 1782 the monastery was closed and turned into a hospital. So began the basilica's decline; the Napoleonic invasion deprived the votive collection of much of its treasures, and the material contained in the rich library was scattered or destroyed; finally, in 1812, a good part of the architectural complex was dismantled. Six popes have visited the sanctuary over the centuries, most recently Pope Pius X and then Pope John Paul II on June 23, 1991.
Architecture and equipment
Two mighty pillars support the church. The portico dates from the 16th century. A cycle of frescoes is painted there that tells the story of the sanctuary. The large nave is unique and rectangular in plan, with a choir and a raised apse. Significant chapels were later added to the sides. The elaborate wooden construction supports the gable roof. This frame is conceived as a work of its own architecture with its tympana , columns and niches. Fifty-three life-size sculptures were placed in the niches. Made from paper mache and wax, some of them were made by Brother Francesco da Acquanegra and his assistants in the 16th century, including figures such as Charles V and Pope Pius II.
Madonnari
Since 1973, on the feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary , the international Madonnari competition has been held annually on August 15 in the Sagrato churchyard, in which sacred paintings are implemented as paving .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Basilica S. Maria delle Grazie on gcatholic.org
- ↑ The history of the pilgrimage church
- ↑ Relazione delle operazioni militari dirette dal Generale Bava in Lombardia, Torino 1848 (pp 43-44).
- ↑ Pierino Pelati, Acque, terre e borghi del territorio Mantovano. Saggio di toponomastica, Asola, 1996.
- ↑ Il Santuario (Italian)
Coordinates: 45 ° 9 '27 " N , 10 ° 41' 40.8" E