The shrine of the Madonna dei Miracoli, also known as the shrine of the Madonna d'Andria, is a Catholic shrine in Andria, in piazza San Pio X, where an image of the Madonna and Child considered miraculous is kept, crowned by twelve stars, with the sun on the right and the moon on the left.
What to see
The shrine is laid out on three levels. The oldest, at the bottom, is the rock church of Santa Margherita, of the 9th century: the Basilian laura includes a three-aisled hall with decorations drawn from Genesis, and in the cave the Byzantine icon of the Madonna dei Miracoli was found and is still there. The middle level is the Tempietto, of the 16th century, an almost square space divided into three aisles, between the cave and the presbytery of the upper church, with the chapel of the Crucifixion with very fine frescoes. The upper level, of the 17th and 18th century, according to local historiography was designed by Cosimo Fanzago, an attribution contested in the most recent studies; the pipe organ by Michele Sessa, of 1854, rests on a gilded wooden gallery dated 1644. In the image the twelve stars represent the twelve apostles, the sun Christ and the moon the Virgin.
According to Catholic tradition, on Saturday 10 March 1576 the Basilian laura of Santa Margherita in Lama was rediscovered, after a search following the apparition of the Madonna in a dream to a local boy; a Byzantine icon was found there, before which a lamp was placed that the three discoverers promised to keep lit in turn. When one forgot to refill it with oil, the lamp was found burning all the same and full of oil: the event, considered miraculous, was reported to Bishop Luca Fieschi, and on 6 June of the same year the image was given the name Santa Maria dei Miracoli d'Andria. Its custody was entrusted to the Cassinese Benedictines of Naples, who built a first church and, in the 17th century, the upper church and a large convent; after the damage of 1799 and the suppression of the religious orders the church was abandoned, and in 1837 it was entrusted to the Augustinians of Naples. In 1855 Andria was spared from cholera and from a disease of the vine, a second miracle, and in 1857 a golden rose offered by the king was placed; the Madonna dei Miracoli was declared co-patron of the city together with Saint Riccardo. In 1907, for the fiftieth anniversary of the coronation of the image, the shrine was raised to a minor basilica.
Visiting
The shrine is in piazza San Pio X, in Andria; opening hours and service times, and access to the lower levels, should be checked on the shrine's website (madonnadeimiracoli.it), because the sources consulted do not give them.
Our editors' tip
Go down to the lowest level, the rock church of Santa Margherita: it is there that, according to tradition, the Byzantine icon was found in 1576, and it is still there.
