Santuario della Madonna degli Angeli

In Cannuzzo, the Sanctuary of the Madonna degli Angeli is a seventeenth-century church built around a Marian image that predates the present building. The sanctuary remains a parish church and a focal point in the rural landscape near Cervia.

Why it matters

The sanctuary reflects the religious life of the hamlets on Cervia's inland plain. Its dedication comes from a sixteenth-century fresco of the Virgin surrounded by angels, while the parish itself dates to 1830. The feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary on 8 September continues the church's association with local devotion.

What to notice

The church has a simple façade and a Latin-cross plan, with a single nave and two side chapels. A wooden truss ceiling spans the interior. The fresco of the Virgin and angels, older than the church itself, is the central artistic focus and gave the sanctuary its name. Its restrained architecture contrasts with the importance of the image to the history of the parish.

Context and history

The present church was built in the seventeenth century and became a parish in 1830. The devotion is older than the building and is associated with a Marian image once kept in one of Cannuzzo's smaller oratories. The fresco is sometimes attributed to Girolamo Marchesi da Cotignola, but that attribution is uncertain. The parish belongs to the Vicariate of Cervia and is linked pastorally with nearby Pisignano.