Nostra Signora delle Grazie al Molo, Baroque sanctuary in Old Port district, Genoa, Italy.
Nostra Signora delle Grazie al Molo is a baroque church rebuilt in the 17th century on the site of a 12th-century Romanesque church, of which the bell tower with mullioned windows and a crypt survive. The crypt, identified as the chapel of Saints Nazarius and Celsus, lies beneath the presbytery and was opened to visitors in the early 1990s.
The first documented church on the site dates from the 12th century and was dedicated to Saints Nazarius and Celsus. In the late 15th century the parish priest Domenico Vaccari, also bishop of Noli and Ventimiglia, enlarged it; he is buried inside. The building was completely rebuilt in the 17th century in baroque style, and the dedication shifted to Nostra Signora delle Grazie. It was a parish church until 1890 and suffered serious damage to its facade and vaults in Second World War bombings.
The name changed over time: the church was first dedicated to Saints Nazarius and Celsus, then to the Madonna under the title Nostra Signora delle Grazie, after a chapel inside it. In the square stands Guido Galletti's 1962 statue of Francesco Maria da Camporosso, known as Padre Santo, a Capuchin friar born in Camporosso.
Visitors can access the ancient crypt beneath the church and explore the large water cistern in the adjacent square. Sturdy footwear is recommended since the crypt has uneven flooring and the surrounding passages can be narrow.
The crypt beneath the presbytery, opened to visitors only in the early 1990s, was excavated by the archaeological superintendency in 2024 and now shows in its floor the remains of Roman Genoa from the Republican to late antique period, alongside a late medieval slate sarcophagus and a post-medieval mass grave.
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