The sanctuary of the Beata Vergine dei Miracoli is Saronno's Marian sanctuary, a minor basilica since 1923 and a parish since 1986. The people of Saronno built it from 8 May 1498, on the site of a chapel on the Varesina road that held a statue of the Madonna from the second half of the fourteenth century, believed to grant healings. The name of the architect of the first design is not documented: Giovanni Antonio Amadeo has been suggested, and he certainly designed the lantern tower, finished in 1508. Between 1511 and 1516 the bell tower by Paolo della Porta was raised, 47 metres high. From 1556 the church was enlarged with a body of a nave and two aisles, and on 10 September 1581 Charles Borromeo personally celebrated the transfer of the old statue into the sanctuary.
What to see
The façade was designed by Pellegrino Tibaldi and built between 1596 and 1613, in classical late-Renaissance forms, with columns, pilasters, statues in niches and two large caryatids flanking the portal. Some of the sanctuary's deputies judged it «alquanto tozza», rather squat, compared with the lantern tower, and to lighten it Carlo Buzzi designed in 1630 the raised balustrade with the statue of the Assumption and the trumpet-playing angels, carried out only in 1666. The lantern tower has twenty-four windows on the outside, in twelve two-light openings, on the twelve-sided drum that covers the dome.
Inside, some of the best artists of the duchy were at work. Bernardino Luini, between 1525 and 1532, frescoed the apse, presbytery and ante-presbytery with the stories of the Virgin: the Marriage, Jesus among the Doctors, the Adoration of the Magi and the Presentation in the Temple. After him came Gaudenzio Ferrari, between 1535 and 1545, who painted the concert of angels in the dome, and Bernardino Lanino, in 1547; among the wood sculptors was Andrea da Milano.
Visiting
Opening, Mass and visiting times should be checked on the sanctuary's website.
Our editors' tip
In the Marriage of the Virgin look at the disappointed suitors: they show no resentment, indeed they hint at a smile, which Luini achieved by bringing Leonardo's sfumato into fresco. Vasari, speaking precisely of the Saronno frescoes, credited him with a «delicatissimo» style.
