Santuario della Madonna dell'Acquasanta

The Madonna dell'Acquasanta sanctuary is embedded in Marino's peperino rock, with a spring beneath its altar and a Marian fresco at the centre of local devotion. Its neoclassical front conceals a much older rock-hewn setting.

Why it matters

Water gives the shrine both its name and its religious meaning. The image of the Virgin holding a small bowl of water links the painted Madonna to the spring. A local legend tells of a horseman saved from a fall through her intervention, adding a story of miraculous protection to the sanctuary's devotional tradition.

What to notice

The facade's two Tuscan columns frame a restrained peperino portico. Within the single nave, excavated rock forms part of the enclosure. The rococo high altar of 1759 was carved from a block of rock, bringing the building's geological setting directly into its sacred furnishings. The fresco has been repainted over time, so its appearance reflects more than one artistic phase.

Context and history

An earlier roadside shrine was incorporated into a church during the sixteenth century. Interior works between 1693 and 1720 established much of its later form. Matteo Lovatti's facade followed in 1819, commissioned by Francesco Fumasoni Biondi. Massimo d'Azeglio contributed painted decoration in 1823–1824, some of which was subsequently lost.