The sanctuary of the Madonna dei Miracoli is the church in Alcamo dedicated to the town's patron saint. It was built to a design by Girolamo Vicchiuzzo on the orders of the governor and captain of justice Fernando Vega, after an apparition that tradition dates to 21 June 1547: two washerwomen, one blind and one deaf, struck by a stream by stones dislodged when a woman with a child appeared, are said to have been healed, and the next day an image of the Virgin and Child was found nearby. In 1754 the sanctuary was affiliated to the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome and in 1784 the Madonna was solemnly crowned.
What to see
You reach the entrance on foot, along a downhill cobbled path closed to cars that ends in a wide flight of steps. The church, in a style between Renaissance and Baroque, has two façades with two doorways. The interior has a single nave with eight altars and stuccoes by Nicolò Curti from 1762; on the vault and in the apse three frescoes by the Catanese painter Alessandro Abate, from 1947, show the glorification of the Madonna, the apparition to the women and the finding of the image.
To the left of the entrance is Fernando Vega's Mannerist marble sarcophagus, carved by Rocco di Rapi in 1557, beside the case holding his helmet and part of his armour. In the chapel of the Madonna dei Miracoli, under a red marble arch, is the venerated painting, repainted in 1890 after a fire and restored in 1963 by Gianbecchina. On the high altar Giuseppe Patania's canvas of 1828 shows the Madonna with the co-patrons Roch, Sebastian and Rosalia at the end of the plague of 1575; more canvases by Patania are on the side altars, and on the right wall is a marble medallion of Judith by Gagini.
Visiting
The feast of the Madonna dei Miracoli, from 19 to 21 June, is Alcamo's most important celebration. Mass and opening times should be checked with the diocese of Trapani.
Our editors' tip
In May, the month of Mary, the faithful walk down the cobbled path in pilgrimage reciting prayers, and in the evening attend services in the sanctuary.
