Discovering the Sanctuary and Oratory of Santa Caterina located in the Montovolo Park. The first sanctuary of the Archdiocese of Bologna dating back to the 12th century
In Montovolo stands the sanctuary of the Beata Vergine della Consolazione, the first sanctuary of the Archdiocese of Bologna dating back to the 12th century.
Almost on the summit stands the Oratory of Santa Caterina d’Alessandria.
Place of grace for young people: to ask Mary for help regarding important decisions in life.
Place of consolation for the sick: to ask for the Lord’s closeness on the difficult journey of the cross.
The Sanctuary of the Beata Vergine della Consolazione and the Oratory of Santa Caterina located within the Montovolo Park and of which they certainly represent the center of both artistic and religious attraction.
The date 1211 is shown in the sandstone lunette of the portal, but the history of this place probably has much older origins as demonstrated by some discoveries of Etruscan artefacts of various kinds found in the surrounding area.
The remains of the crypt themselves would be of proto-Romanesque age.
The Sanctuary of Montovolo was for many centuries, until the construction of that of San Luca, the Bolognese devotional center par excellence, despite the absence of miraculous events that occurred there.
The only supernatural event of which we have news dates back to 1399. Here, during one of the traditional processions, near the leap of Saint Catherine, a cross appeared as if made of fire. At the sight of her, a young man fell to the ground and, after getting up, claimed that the Madonna had asked him to erect a cross in that place. Hence the construction of the Aedicule of the Holy Cross, which still stands there today.
Among the administrators of the Sanctuary who followed one another over time, there was also Count Cesare Mattei, an eclectic builder of the Rocchetta in Riola.
The creation of the carriage road in the 1950s, which allows you to easily reach the place, replacing the old mule track, is attributed to Don Annibale Sandri, rector of the Sanctuary from 1943 to 2001.
In the Montovolo area, not far from the Sanctuary, stands the Oratory of Santa Caterina which was built as a votive offering by Bolognese crusaders returning from the Damietta crusade.
Sanctuary of the Beata Vergine della Consolazione di Montovolo
Montovolo location
Grizzana Morandi (Bologna)
Emilia Romagna – Italy
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