Sanctuary of the Madonna del Sasso

The Sanctuary of the Madonna del Sasso, an important pilgrimage site, stands on the summit of a rocky spur rising within the small valley carved out by the Ramogna stream, at an altitude of 370 metres above sea level in the municipality of Orselina.

In addition to the convent, the architectural complex, or Sacro Monte, includes the Church of the Annunciation, the chapels along the old access road to the valley with the portico of the cross, the Via Crucis and its stations set in niches, the chapel of the Pieta in the courtyard, The Mourning of Christ, the Last Supper, and the Holy Spirit under the portico of the sanctuary, the staircase, the cemetery cross, the churchyard and finally the church of Santa Maria Assunta known as Madonna del Sasso.

At its origin was the apparition of the Virgin Mary to Brother Bartolomeo Piatti of Ivrea, of the Convent of San Francesco in Locarno, in 1480, on the eve of the Feast of the Assumption (15 August).