On 26 May 1432, in a field outside the town, a peasant girl named Giannetta de' Vacchi said she had seen the Madonna; building began on the spot at once, and the sanctuary of Santa Maria del Fonte is still one of the most visited in the north.
The town also gave the world a name everyone knows: the parents of Michelangelo Merisi came from here, and the son carried Caravaggio with him forever; Polidoro, one of Raphael's best pupils, was from here too. The rest is a history of wars: in 1448 Francesco Sforza beat Bartolomeo Colleoni here, and in 1629 the Landsknechts brought sack and plague, which took a third of the inhabitants. Today there are 15,882.
Risotto alla Milanese
Compare hotels, B&Bs and holiday homes on Booking.com for your dates.
Next up: Saints Fermo and Rustico, patrons of the town of the Marian apparition sanctuary, Monday 9 August
Nearest airport: Bergamo Orio al Serio, 20 km away
No events match these filters.
📅 Every year, on 9 August; the Sanctuary of Santa Maria del Fonte recalls the apparition of 26 May 1432
Caravaggio celebrates Saints Fermo and Rustico on 9 August; in the surrounding countryside, tradition holds that the Virgin Mary appeared on 26 May 1432, now venerated as Santa Maria del Fonte in the town's great sanctuary, a place of devotion even abroad.
Straight-line distances from the town centre. Tap a point to open its page.
The closest destinations covered by our editors, with straight-line distance.
