Madonna del Ghisallo

Location

The Colle del Ghisallo is a mountain pass on the road connecting Asso and Bellagio, in the Larian Triangle. The point of the pass, at an altitude of approximately 754 m above sea level, is located near Magreglio.

History

According to local legend, the medieval Count Ghisallo was attacked by bandits while crossing the pass. Accounts of the legend vary: the sanctuary's history describes Ghisallo invoking Mary's protection after encountering a religious icon during a hunting trip, while Cyclingnews describes an apparition of the Virgin. The Italian Catholic Church's building inventory describes him taking refuge in a roadside chapel and promising to dedicate a sanctuary if he survived. The Madonna del Ghisallo subsequently became a patroness of local travellers.

The date of the sanctuary's earliest construction is uncertain. A notarial document dated 1135 records a locality named Ghisallo between Civenna and Magreglio, but does not mention a church. By 1623, a religious building existed on the site and was remodelled as a sanctuary. The entrance portico was added in the late seventeenth century.

During the Second World War, the sanctuary served as a place of prayer for people seeking help and protection. The local community appealed to the Virgin Mary for her intercession and made a collective vow in 1944 seeking an end to the conflict. According to the sanctuary's historical account, this vow is commemorated by an annual procession and solemn Mass of thanksgiving for peace on the first Sunday of October. The account also describes the crowning of the image of Mary with a gold crown made from jewellery donated by residents and visitors as an expression of gratitude.

In 1979, the sanctuary established a twinning relationship with the sanctuary of the Black Madonna of Częstochowa in Poland. The sanctuary's historical account records a ceremony in Częstochowa on 22 September and an audience with Pope John Paul II on 26 September, during which documents bearing the pope's signature were presented to mark the relationship.

Association with cycling

The Ghisallo hill became part of the Giro di Lombardia bicycle race and has been included in the route of the Giro d'Italia on numerous occasions. The church sits atop a steep hill that climbs from the shores of Lake Como. It became a natural resting point for cyclists.

By the early twentieth century, cyclists were visiting the sanctuary and leaving offerings in thanksgiving. In the summer of 1947, Carlo Gnocchi organized a gathering at the sanctuary attended by more than 3,000 people, approximately half of them cyclists.

Father Ermelindo Viganò, parish priest and rector of the sanctuary from 1944 to 1985, promoted its connection with cycling. According to the sanctuary's historical account, his proposal arose during the 1947 Giro di Lombardia, when he observed riders making the sign of the cross as they passed the chapel. In September 1947, he wrote to Cardinal Alfredo Ildefonso Schuster requesting that the Virgin Mary, under the title Madonna del Ghisallo, be proclaimed patroness of Italian cycling.

On 13 October 1948, Pius XII lit a votive lamp intended for the sanctuary during a ceremony at Castel Gandolfo. His address described the flame as a symbol of faith and prayer before the image of the Virgin of Ghisallo. A cycling relay brought the lamp to the sanctuary, with Gino Bartali and Fausto Coppi leading its arrival.

On 13 October 1949, Pius XII formally named the Madonna del Ghisallo patroness of cyclists through a papal brief. Saint Clare of Assisi is also regarded as the patron saint of bicycle messengers.

Cyclists visit the sanctuary as a place of pilgrimage and devotion to the Madonna del Ghisallo, seeking her protection and leaving bicycles, jerseys, photographs and other objects as ex-voto offerings. The sanctuary also maintains an online Ex-Votos and Dedications service through which cyclists and others may submit personal dedications and photographs. The service extends the sanctuary's physical collection of photographs and memorial offerings and may be used to commemorate deceased cyclists and other people connected with cycling or devoted to the Madonna del Ghisallo. …

Building and monuments

According to the sanctuary's historical account, in July 1623 the residents of Magreglio obtained permission to celebrate Mass in the chapel they had rebuilt. In 1660, the priest G. B. Bonanome established an endowment for Masses at the sanctuary. The three-arched entrance portico was added in 1681.

The church has a single nave and a rectangular presbytery, with a polychrome marble altar. Its sixteenth-century image of the Madonna del Latte, depicting Mary nursing the infant Jesus, was detached from its original fresco surface, transferred to canvas, and returned to the altar during restoration work in 1950.

The bronze votive lamp inside the church was created by sculptor Carmelo Cappello and installed in October 1948 in remembrance of deceased cyclists. Standing 1.4 metres high on a bronze stele, it incorporates four scenes from Italian cycling history. A bronze Monument to the Cyclist by Elio Ponti was installed outside in 1973. The monument depicts a victorious rider raising an arm alongside an exhausted cyclist, representing victory and defeat.