Madonna della Castagna, Shrine and church in Bergamo, Italy
Madonna della Castagna is a shrine and church at the foot of the hills between Bergamo and Sombreno, reached by a tree-lined avenue that leads to a wide forecourt. Inside, the building is divided into a main nave and a smaller chapel dedicated to the apparition, with a square floor plan and three steps leading up to the sanctuary area.
According to the most accepted version of events, the Madonna appeared on April 28, 1510, to two men in a chestnut grove near Bergamo and asked for a church to be built on that spot. A small place of worship was erected in 1511 and the building was changed several times over the centuries, with the bell tower added in the early 1900s.
The shrine takes its name from a legend in which a chestnut tree suddenly bore ripe fruit as a sign of the Madonna's appearance. Every year on April 28, worshippers gather here to mark the event with prayers and a shared celebration.
The shrine stands on Via Madonna della Castagna in Bergamo and can be reached by car or on foot without difficulty. From here it is easy to walk to other nearby spots, such as the small Grés lake a short distance away.
Inside, a wooden group carved in 1928 by sculptor Enrico Manzoni depicts the scene of the apparition in three dimensions. Next to it stands a marble pulpit decorated with angels in the style of the Fantoni workshop, one of the most recognized sculptural traditions of the Bergamo area.
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