09 Shrine of the Madonna del Sasso

Texts by Rodolfo Huber

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We stand at the entrance to the Sanctuary of the Madonna del Sasso, whose origin dates back to the miraculous apparition of the Virgin, in 1480, to Brother Bartolomeo Piatti of Ivrea, of the Convent of San Francesco in Locarno. Two chapels were first built on the rocky summit overlooking Lake Maggiore, consecrated in 1487, and then, a little further downstream, the Church of the Annunciata, consecrated in 1502. From this initial nucleus developed the sacred mount probably inspired by the one established by Franciscan friar Bernardino Caimi in Varallo Sesia in the late 15th century. The complex developed further in the 17th century with the construction of the chapels of the sacred mount, the way of the cross and the transformation of the complex into a shrine with the adjoining convent.

In 1848 the shrine was secularized and became the property of Canton Ticino. Later the Franciscan friars were replaced by the Capuchins. The Shrine was then transformed and restored several times in the late 19th century, in the mid-20th century, and again with major works in the late 1970s. In 2004, the first stage of further comprehensive restoration began and was completed in the fall of 2012. In 2015, the government of Canton Ticino nominated Sacro Monte for inclusion in the UNESCO World Heritage Site.

In 1925, during the Locarno Conference, taking advantage of the monument's prominent position overlooking the city, the shrine was illuminated with a garland of electric bulbs to form the inscription "PAX." At night, the glowing inscription stood out against the dark background of the mountain, either as a beacon pointing in the right direction or as an invocation of the peoples' hope. The spectacle impressed the delegates and journalists.

And indeed during the ten days when "Europe gathered in Locarno," as historian Mario Agliati had this to say, in the moments of rest and recreation that were interspersed with the busy sessions of diplomatic negotiations, the Shrine was an excursion destination for international delegations. Several memorable photographs depict the delegates of nations gathered in Locarno in the churchyard.