The Madonna della Corona Sanctuary is located in Spiazzi in one of the most picturesque locations in northern Italy.

Rises clinging on the rock of the mountains that surround it, at 774 meters above sea level, overlooking the valley of the Adige river.

Historical notes about Madonna della Corona Sanctuary near Verona

The Shrine of the Madonna della Corona is a place of silence and meditation, extended between heaven and earth, hidden in the heart of the Baldo rocks. Medieval documents testify that hermits linked to the Abbey of St Zeno in Verona lived in the Baldo area already around the year 1000 and that at least from the second half of the 13th century there was a monastery with a chapel dedicated to St Mary of Montebaldo.

Coming to Verona and having the best stay:

• Compare prices of hotels in Verona, for all pockets or view hotel deals at the bottom of the page that we have for you. You can also stay at The Hotel Residence Stella Alpina, it is a property of the Madonna della Corona sanctuary, which is located about 150 meters from the center of Spiazzi in a magnificent mountain scenery, on a terrace overlooking the Val d’Adige below. It is open from March to November with service restaurant, bar and hotel.
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Pilgrimages – The group on Saturday

With “The group of the Sabbath” gives you the chance to come to pray to Our Mother of Sorrows to understand and experience the value and meaning of suffering through the foot path at 15 every Saturday of the year.

The departure is scheduled Adige Valley in the town of Brentino under the big chestnut. You walk about 600 meters of ascent, with many steps, on the ancient path of the pilgrim in a time period of about one and a half hours to get to the Shrine.

After a short break the group then participates in the Holy Mass at 17.

For the return trip retraces the same path, and in time of about an hour, you go back down to the village of Brentino. The call to be added to the Group of the Sabbath is for everyone, even for a saturday. The participant will prove a pleasant feeling for the body and the spirit.

The new Church of the Madonna della Corona

In 1625 work began on the construction of a new and more spacious church 4 metres above the previous one which was incorporated beneath the new presbytery.

The work went on for some decades, with the roof being placed in 1664 and the job being finally concluded in 1685.

Meantime the access routes were rearranged and, thanks to a contribution from Commendatore Tancredi a hospice was built in a cavity of the mountain for the lodging requirements of the increasingly more numerous pilgrims.

The overall arrangement of the entire area of the Shrine is documented in two precious inventories of 1724 and 1744 is perfectly visible in a beautiful engraving made by Giovanni Antonio Urbani in 1750 by order of the rector don Giancarlo Balbi.

Towards the end of the 19th century, the church was enlarged and given a new Gothic style facade, with marble decorations.

The projects were of the architect Giuseppe Magagnotti of Verona and the engineer Emilio Paor of Trent. The end of the works was solemnized on 17th September 1899 with the ceremony of the crowning of the statue of Our Lady of Sorrows.

Over the following years the facade and church were enriched with statues by the sculptor Ugo Zannoni.

Between 1921 and 1922 the bell-tower was rebuilt with a soaring steeple and in 1922, on the occasion of the fourth centenary of the appereance of Our Lady of Sorrows, the road was improved and, on a design by engineer Federici, the access gallery to the Shrine was opened, thus facilitating the path for pilgrims. After the last world war, from 1946 to 1949, the rector Don Sandrini had the church extended in the presbytery area. The project was by architect Banterle.

The modern Basilica of the Madonna della Corona

In 1974 the architect Guido Tisato was assigned the job of preparing a project for an overall intervention that foresaw demolishing the existing church, while preserving its most important and significant parts, and the construction of a larger structure.

Demolition and reconstruction of the Shrine were carried out from 1975 to 1978 and on 4th June 1978 the Bishop Giuseppe Carraro was able to celebrated the dedication of the new Shrine and the new altar. In 1982 the Shrine was given the title of “basilica minor”. On 17th April 1988 Pope John Paul II visited the Shrine of Madonna della Corona and prayed to our Lady.

The sculptures by Ugo Zannoni

There are numerous sculptures present in the Shrine, the majority of which, in white Cararra marble, are by the sculptor Ugo Zannoni from Verona.

• The statues portraying St John Evangelist and St Mary Magdalene, visible in the projecting niches on the facade and the standing Our Lady of Sorrows, now in the Chapel of Confessions date to 1900;
• the statue of St Joseph and those of the two patron saints of the Knights of Malta, St Toscana and St John the Baptist date to the years 1912-1913
• the 14 panels of the Via Crucis, on the pilasters of the central nave of the Shrine
• the plaster panels of the seven sorrows of Our Lady, now in the Chapel of Adoration
• the Ecce Homo and the two Praying Angels, now in the Chapel of Confessions were carried out in 1916;
• high-relief of the Encounter of Christ with his Mother dates to 1919, shortly before the artist’s death.

The works by Raffaele Bonente

Bronze casts by the Veronese architect Raffaele Bonente can be admired along the access road. The “set” on the rocky wall of the apse, around the statue of the Pietà surrounded by a crown of thorns and five angelic groups is very original:

• the altar piece with the three bronze panels portraying the Nativity, the Crucifixion and Pentecost, separated by four pilasters dedicated to the Evangelists; at the sides two panels dedicated to the Veronese church, while the part at the back is subdivided into three panels containing at the sides two Marian invocations and at the centre the heart of Our Lady pierced by seven swords;
• the six candelabra on the altar with the symbols of the Evangelists and allegorical symbols
• the panel of the Annunciation, placed on the pulpit, and the lectern with the symbols of the four Evangelists, the faces of Abraham, Moses, David and Isaiah;
• and at the centre Christ’s monogram;
• the 1982 tabernacle with the four bronze figures representing faith, hope, charity and religion;
• the 1988 baptistery that shows eight fish in the lower part and the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit in the upper part;
• the medallion commemorating the papal visit, since 1993 outside the Shrine
• the stain-glass windows of the right nave of the Shrine showing the mysteries of Rosary
• the sculptures and stained-glass windows that decorate the chapel of Adoration, carried out in 1990;
• the bronze statues of the stations of the Via Crucis along the road that from the “Stella Alpina” Residence leads to the Shrine.

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