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The Church of Our Lady of Grace in Anguillara Sabazia: the Lakeside Sanctuary Where the Madonna Closed Her Eyes
The Church of the Madonna delle Grazie is a small pontifical sanctuary overlooking Lungolago Reginaldo Belloni, in Anguillara Sabazia. It stands a few steps from the water, the old town centre perched behind it, and Lake Bracciano in front. Built in the 17th century as a rural chapel outside Porta Giudia, one of the old gateways to the town, documented in pastoral visits from 1574, and regularly from 1658.
The Miracle of the Eyes and the Lost Painting
In 1796, during the Napoleonic campaign in Italy, the image of the Madonna in the apsidal conch is said to have miraculously closed her eyes. The phenomenon — part of a wave of Marian events that began in Ancona and spread throughout the Papal States — made the church a place of pilgrimage. But the painting at the centre of the miracle was lost during the restoration of 1980, supervised by celebrated restorer Pico Cellini. A copy is kept in the Collegiate Church at the summit of the village.
Architecture and the Procession of 8 September
The interior has a Greek-cross plan, with three apses and as many altars. The original façade — a simple pediment with an oculus and a small bell gable — is hidden behind a three-arched portico added later. On 8 September each year the statue of the Madonna descends from the Collegiate Church, is carried along the lanes of the town and meets the statue of St Blaise halfway down, in Via del Trivio. The procession then continues along the lake shore — accompanied by illuminated boats — to the sanctuary.
