Sanctuary of San Pancrazio, Gothic Revival shrine in Pianezza, Italy

The Sanctuary of San Pancrazio is a Gothic Revival house of worship with pointed arches and vertical lines characteristic of the style. The arcaded passage is supported by 44 columns spanning approximately 50 meters, and a painted vault depicting the Redeemer crowns the apse.

Popular tradition dates the shrine to 12 May 1450, when farmer Andrea Casella cut off his wife's leg with a scythe; the limb reattached after a vow to Saint Pancras, and a votive pillar and chapel followed. In 1640 the Marquis of Pianezza, Carlo Emanuele Giacinto di Simiana, gave a convent to the Discalced Augustinians, and the first church was built in 1647-1657 to designs probably by Francesco Lanfranchi. After the 1801 Napoleonic suppression, the Passionists took over in 1886; the present church, by Amedeo Bono, replaced the decayed Baroque church in 1949, with work completed in 1995.

The sanctuary is cared for by the Congregation of the Passionists, who have been its custodians since 1886. On 9 September it celebrates the Madonna della Cintura, a devotion the Augustinians introduced here in 1771, the day after the Nativity of Mary. Each 12 May a Mass is held at three in the night, recalling the 1450 miracle.

The Chapel of the Apparition stands in the north-eastern part of the complex, entered through a wrought-iron gate on the right nave; inside, a room dedicated to the saint leads to the underground crypt by two corridors lined with ex-votos. The 44 neo-Gothic arches of the forecourt were designed by Lorenzo Basso between 1920 and 1924.

The apparition chapel in the north-east part of the complex was completely rebuilt by Lorenzo Basso in 1937, with an octagonal dome and lantern; it is entered through a wrought-iron gate on the right nave. Inside, the hall of the saint leads through two corridors lined with ex-voto offerings to the underground crypt.