Santuario di Montevergine
Mercogliano
FamousSacred art
The story
Clinging to the Partenio, the sanctuary guards the dark Madonna the pilgrims call Mamma Schiavona; you climb by funicular, through beech woods and mist, to look out over the whole of Irpinia.
Access
FREE, funicular €
The story
The Sanctuary of Montevergine stands at over one thousand two hundred metres on the massif of Partenio, above Mercogliano. It was founded in the twelfth century by Saint William of Vercelli, a hermit monk, and became one of the great territorial abbeys of Italy. Inside is venerated the ancient image of the Madonna of Montevergine, the goal of an uninterrupted pilgrimage for centuries.
What to see
The basilica holds the venerated painting of the Madonna of Montevergine, the 'Mamma Schiavona', the heart of an intense popular devotion that draws up to a million and a half pilgrims a year. From the forecourt, the panorama sweeps over all of Irpinia and the valley.
How to get there
- Car needed
- Funicular
Public transport. Il trasporto pubblico in quest'area interna è limitato: i collegamenti in autobus sono radi e non sempre giornalieri. In pratica il luogo è difficilmente raggiungibile senza un mezzo proprio; per eventuali autolinee e per la stazione ferroviaria utile più vicina, verifica su Unico Campania e sui canali ufficiali degli operatori regionali (AIR Campania). · fonte: Fallback onesto — area interna, routing transit non disponibile
Tips
You go up by car or, far more evocative, by the funicular from Mercogliano. At altitude it is cool even in summer. It is a living place of faith: visit it with the respect due to a sanctuary in full activity. The great feasts (at Pentecost and on 12 September) draw enormous crowds.
Frequently asked questions
What is venerated at the Sanctuary of Montevergine?
The ancient image of the Madonna of Montevergine, the 'Mamma Schiavona', the goal of a deeply felt pilgrimage, with over a million visitors a year.
Who founded the Sanctuary of Montevergine?
Saint William of Vercelli, a hermit monk, in the twelfth century; it is one of the territorial abbeys of Italy.
How do you reach the Sanctuary of Montevergine?
Above Mercogliano, by car or by the funicular; it stands at over 1,200 metres on the massif of Partenio.
More gems in Mercogliano
◆ VillagesCapocastello di Mercogliano
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The medieval borgo (old village) below the castle, largely abandoned after the earthquakes: arches, stairs that lead to no door any more, and overhead the shadow of Montevergine.
- Museums
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A palace by Domenico Antonio Vaccaro guarding 200,000 volumes, codices and incunabula, and an eighteenth-century pharmacy with its jars still in place, as if the apothecary monk had just stepped out.
More gems: Sacred art
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Behind a bronze gate lie silverware, gems and the jewel-studded mitre of the saint: a treasure heaped up over centuries by the devotion of Naples.
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Bronze skulls stand guard at the entrance, and down in the hypogeum the cult of the anime pezzentelle (adopted souls of the dead) still leaves flowers and prayers beside abandoned crania.