Santa Maria in Monte Penice, Religious shrine on Monte Penice, Bobbio, Italy

Santa Maria in Monte Penice is a non-parish church and sanctuary at the summit of Monte Penice, 1,460 m high, on the border between the provinces of Piacenza and Pavia, in the municipality of Bobbio. The building, in Romanesque style, stands on a paved forecourt from which the view takes in the Trebbia and Staffora valleys and, on clear days, the snow-capped Alps.

The sanctuary traces its origin to a primitive construction of the 7th century, later enlarged several times. Tradition links the veneration of the Madonna here to a promise made by Saint Columbanus to the Lombard queen Theodolinda; the Irish missionary had received the territory to found the Abbey of San Colombano in 614. The building is said to stand on an earlier Celtic-Ligurian pagan temple, indicated by an artefact of the 1st-2nd century now kept at the castle of Montegalletto in Genoa.

The sanctuary serves as a gathering place for the local Catholic community, where people come together for religious observances and celebrations throughout the year. Visitors can sense this living tradition through the arrangement of the interior spaces and the religious objects on display.

The sanctuary stands at the 1,460 m summit of Monte Penice, reached by a road of about 4 km from the Penice pass at 1,149 m, crossed by the ex-strada statale 461 del Passo del Penice. It can also be approached from the Tidone valley via the ex-strada statale 412 della Val Tidone. The piazzale in front of the building opens onto the Trebbia and Staffora valleys.

The sanctuary stands on the summit of Monte Penice at 1,460 m, on the border between the provinces of Piacenza and Pavia. A 1st–2nd century artefact found here, evidence of an earlier Celtic-Ligurian temple on the site, is kept at the castle of Montegalletto in Genoa.