A Rewarding Tour Of Italian Shrines

By Author: Gordan Zovko
Total Articles: 21
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Catholic shrines in Italy are quite well-known and there are a few sanctuaries that deserve as much attention. Basilica of San Peter is of great importance as artistic and religious building, as it is a seat of Roman Catholic Church, seat of the successor of St. Peter. A large number of tourists and pilgrims arrive for the Vatican tour, for both artistic and religious reasons.

Vatican City, as you may know, is a sovereign state located in Rome, capital of Italy. This has led to a strong societal link between Italy and the Church. In fact, Rome and then Italy has the highest concentration of churches in the world.

From the southernmost towns of Sicily to the snowy Valle d'Aosta, every region hosts many churches. Many of them are dedicated to Saints who lived in the neighbourhoods and therefore comprehend a little museum in the inside dedicated to them. Think of St. Anthony in Padua, “San Dominic” in Bologna, St. Benedict in Montecassino, Padre Pio in San Giovanni Rotondo, St. Francis in in Assisi.

Many of you will know San Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican. World most known architects Bernini, Michelangelo, ...
... Bramante, Maderno worked on its construction since the beginning of the works on it, since 1506. This basilica is of great importance as artistic and religious building all over the world. It represents an historical reference for Christianity and it is considered a masterpiece of architecture due to the number of artists who worked on it, size of the basilica as well because of the, for Catholics most important fact, tomb of St. Peter. Other patriarchal basilicas of Rome are St. Mary Major, St. John Lateran and St. Paul Outside the Walls.

In Italy, catholic shrines like that are well known. But there are a few sanctuaries that deserve a bit more attention than they have at the moment. The Padre Pio Church in San Giovanni Rotondo, near the city of Foggia is one of them. This sanctuary famous because of tomb of the St. Padre Pio, because of the life saint spent here one can find museum of his personal belongings, many relics of Saint Pio. We were blessed by first class relic many times, glove saint used to cover his stigmata. Padre Pio was first priest in the history of the Church who received stigmata, sign of great and deep spirituality. The new basilica dedicated to the Saint was built in the ’90 by architect Renzo Piano.

Another Italian catholic shrine to visit is known as Santuario della Madonna delle lacrime in Syracuse. In this southern city of the Sicily during the fifties, a little statue of the Virgin Mary made of chalk cried. The community decided to build a sanctuary to commemorate this miracle. The winners of the international competition, the French architects Michel Andrault and Pierre Parat, designed an unusual concrete church. The church is quite high (more than 70m) compared to the churches in rest of the city. On top of the conic shaped concrete temple, sits a tall bronze statue of the Virgin. The interpretations of this particular shape are many. The most important is the shape of a teardrop. Anyway the architects declared that they opted for that shape in order to refer to the concept of human elevation towards God.

While you are in the south of Italy, you could visit a sanctuary that will leave you speechless. Not much because of the church itself but because of the location. It's the Santa Maria del Terzito Sanctuary in the island of Salina. The church was built in 1622 but was heavily modified during 19th century. In Italy Catholic shrines are everywhere but it might be difficult to find ones that are not stuffed with tourists.

The author of this article is associated with Blue Heart Travel that takes people on Marian shrines tour as well as other religious tours.