Mongiovino Sanctuary

Mongiovino is a typical Marian sanctuary, and is historically famous for the battle in the 17th century fought between the papal army and that of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. Originally dedicated to the Madonna of St. Martin, it housed a small chapel with a Marian image. The episode that gave rise to the beginning of Mongiovino’s devotional activity took place on an unspecified date around 1500. After which, on 4 June 1513, the Bishop of Chiusi granted the inhabitants of the castle the patronage of an oratory under construction of a miraculous Majesty, and the administration of offers because “an incredible and admirable  multitude of people arrived there on a devote pilgrimage”.

Five months later, Pope Leo X Medici, intervened in favour of the prodigies that occurred. It soon became insufficient to accommodate the ever increasing number of pilgrims so, in 1524, the building of a monumental church began, and in 1536 it was documented as being a sanctuary. Many were the stonecutters that decorated the bas-reliefs of the portal arch jambs, including Lorenzo from Carrara and Bernardino from Siena. The sanctuary was built in sandstone from the nearby quarries of Petraia and Cibottola. The terracotta sculptures in the organ niches  are by Bevignate from Perugia and Arrigo Fiammingo, the cycle of frescoes is by Mannerist workers coming from Tuscany, the Marches and the Netherlands.