The sanctuary of the Madonna of Tirano and the story of the apparition of the Virgin in Valtellina

The Sanctuary of Madonna of Tirano it was born after the apparition of Mary to the young blessed Mario Omodei on 29 September 1504 in a vegetable garden, and is considered the most important religious place in Valtellina. Mary asked the young man to build the Sanctuary in that precise place, thanks to which the plague would be defeated, as happened shortly thereafter.

The construction of the Sanctuary began on 25 March 1505, day ofAnnunciation of the Virgin Mary and ended in 1513. It came then consecrated on 14 May 1528, with the blessing of the bishop of Como Cesare Trivulzio.

In the days of the apparition the Valtellina was under the invasion of Swiss Grisons, to which dominion of the area was passing. The Valtellina people were now almost resigning themselves to their fate as a people continually invaded by foreigners. Because of his geographic location, the city of Tirano is particularly exposed to clutches of the Nordics. The pressure Calvinistic it was strong, but the Valtellina people resisted with all their strength. After the intervention of Madonna, which proves to be a sign of great Providence, the Sanctuary it becomes the fulcrum of a strong religious devotion, and therefore also of spiritual resistance.

The devotion to the Madonna of Tirano becomes shining and fervent at the beginning of six hundred. But until the revolt of 1620, with the dramatic massacre of the reformed, which will then be renamed the "sacred slaughterhouse".

After this event, the Grisons organized a punitive expedition in Valtellina with a powerful army. They devastated Bormio, bringing death and ruin throughout the area and aiming for Tirano, which will soon be stormed by the Swiss. A battle he will make a lot of dead, but which will see the Swiss capitulate, thanks to the miracle of the bronze statue of St. Michael the Archangel.

The Madonna of Tirano helps the people of Valtellina

The statue that stood on the dome of the Sanctuary, she was seen swirl on itself and brandish the flaming sword against the Swiss camp. A sign of the fact that the Madonna of Tirano proved herself once again Helper of his people, in defense of the Christian faith.

The interior of the Sanctuary of the Madonna of Tirano is presented three naves from which you can see the enormous amount of stucco, paintings and decorations. Inside there are numerous works of art. From the facade created by the sculptor Alessandro Della Scala from Carona, to the organ by Giuseppe Bulgarini from Brescia which rests on eight large red marble columns. One of the Shrines most beautiful in Lombardy

This sanctuary with its history and artistic beauty is still today a place of worship and pilgrimage.