Santuario di Nostra Signora delle Grazie (Montegrazie)

Above the olive valleys behind Porto Maurizio, the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Graces at Montegrazie brings together a medieval chapel, a fifteenth-century church and a major cycle of late-medieval frescoes. The complex preserves the layered history of a pilgrimage site in the Imperia hinterland.

Why it matters

Local tradition places an apparition of the Madonna here in the thirteenth century, when she is said to have appeared to a young girl and healed her. A Romanesque chapel marks the site associated with the story; the larger church was rebuilt around 1450. Together, the two buildings preserve the continuity of devotion and the architectural development of the sanctuary.

What to notice

The church's stone façade has a portico carried on columns, a tall bell tower and a carved lamb above the doorway. Inside, dark stone columns divide three naves. Tomaso and Matteo Biazaci's late-fifteenth-century fresco cycle includes a Last Judgment, scenes of punishment and stories of Saint John the Baptist. The chapel of Saint James the Greater contains frescoes of the saint's miracles painted in 1498 by Gabriele della Cella. A polyptych by Carlo Braccesco, painted in 1478 for the sanctuary, is now preserved in the parish church of Montegrazie.

Context and history

The present church was built around 1450 beside the earlier chapel. The Biazaci frescoes date to the 1480s, with further Passion and Saint James scenes added later. A statue of the Madonna stands in the high-altar niche, and the sanctuary's principal feast is celebrated on 8 September. The sanctuary also preserves a local memory of Theodore Roosevelt's visit in 1910.