Sacro Monte di Viggiano, Regional sanctuary at 1725m on Mount Viggiano, Italy

The sanctuary of the Black Madonna of the Sacred Mount of Viggiano stands about 12 km from the town centre, on the mountain where the statue is said to have been found. The small stone building has a gabled facade of rough grey rectangular blocks, a tall narrow arched wooden door, a circular grilled window above it and a metal rod on the roof ridge. A plaque is fixed to the right of the door.

The sanctuary was probably built in the 14th century on the spot where the statue of the Madonna was found. The first known document mentioning the church dates from 1393, when Tommaso Bono Iurno of Viggiano donated ten grani for its lights. Pope Julius II took an interest in the sanctuary, and a 1618 visitation records that it supported itself with its own revenues. In 1890 Pope Leo XIII crowned the Madonna "Patron and Queen" of Lucania, and on 11 December 1965 Paul VI raised the sanctuary to minor basilica.

Each year the statue is carried in a glass case from Viggiano's town centre up to the mountain sanctuary on the first Sunday of May, and brought back down on the first Sunday of September. The return is preceded on the Saturday by a pilgrims' procession. Carlo Levi describes the Viggiano Madonna's procession in his book Cristo si è fermato a Eboli.

The sanctuary stands about 12 km from Viggiano's town centre, reached by trail; the statue itself is carried up on the first Sunday of May and back down on the first Sunday of September, the Saturday before each transfer marked by a pilgrims' procession. Plan a visit around these dates to see the statue in place.

The legend holds that the statue was hidden in a hole when the Saracens destroyed Grumentum; that hole is still visible behind the main altar. The first written record of the church is a 1393 act in which Tommaso Bono Iurno of Viggiano gave it ten grani for lights.