The carved and inlaid choir that closes the nave is the work of friar Paolo da Recco, who spent from 1496 to 1501 on it: woodwork from one of the best moments of Ligurian carving, in a church that promises nothing of the sort from outside. The sanctuary stands at Le Grazie, the hamlet of Porto Venere facing the cove of the same name, and you reach it by climbing a stairway between olive trees. The first church was founded around the 11th century by monks who came from the nearby island of Tino; the cult of Our Lady of Graces arrived later, in the 15th century.
What to see
The building is late Gothic, a single nave under cross vaults, and its walls hold a small gallery of Ligurian and Tuscan painting. Local devotion rests on the image of the Virgin painted on panel, very close to a work Andrea da Asti signed in 1424 for Santa Maria della Castagna in Genoa Quarto. At the first altar on the right hangs a Saint Margaret of Cortona of the Tuscan school, attributed to the priest-painter Camillo del Gallo of Pistoia and painted in 1566 for a church in Montecatini Alto.
On the left side, the third altar holds the Miracle of Saint Venerio by Giovanni Battista Casoni, the next one a Madonna and Child with saints thought to be by Domenico Fiasella; the Saint Francis begging the pardon of Assisi is by Domenico Piola. The organ, dated 1865, came out of the Agati workshop in Pistoia. In the refectory rooms a fresco cycle has resurfaced, with a Crucifixion, attributed to Nicolò Corso and placed between 1446 and 1503.
Visiting
Le Grazie is reached from provincial road 530 between La Spezia and Porto Venere; the sanctuary is on via Libertà, above the little harbour, and the last stretch is the stairway among the olives. It is a working parish church, so opening times follow services: morning and late afternoon are the safest bets. Nothing of the convent next door can be visited: since 1798, when the Directory of the Ligurian Republic suppressed the religious orders and General Miollis had the Olivetan monks expelled, the building was left empty, and it is now a private house that nevertheless keeps its cloister and refectory intact.
Our editors' tip
If you can, come on 8 September for the feast of the Nativity of Mary: that is the day the village closes ranks around its Madonna and the stairway fills up. On other days we suggest climbing slowly, stopping halfway up the steps to look down on the cove, and leaving the choir for last: with the light coming down the nave, friar Paolo's carving reads far better.