On August 28, 1435—the feast day of Saint Augustine—the sanctuary of the Beata Vergine della Salute in Monteortone, a hamlet of Abano Terme, opened for worship. Its origin dates back to late May 1428, when a wounded soldier named Pietro Falco reported a vision of the Virgin Mary while praying near the hill. Instructed to bathe in the local thermal spring, Falco was cured of his injuries and discovered an early 15th-century painted panel inside the water. The miracle, credited with ending a local plague epidemic, attracted the attention of Doge Francesco Foscari and Venetian authorities, who commissioned Augustinian prior Simone da Camerino to oversee the construction of the church and adjacent monastery.
What to see
The sanctuary holds notable artworks and historical monuments. Behind the main altar, an ornate shrine houses the anonymous 15th-century panel depicting the Virgin and Child with Saint Christopher and Saint Anthony Abbot. The church interior contains a fresco cycle by Renaissance painter Jacopo da Montagnana and a depiction of the Crucifixion by Palma the Younger. Later structural alterations involved sculptors and architects Pietro Lombardo, Tullio Lombardo, and Baldassarre Longhena, though extensive later modifications make their specific contributions hard to distinguish. Beneath a tombstone at the foot of the high altar lies friar Simone da Camerino, who mediated the 1454 Peace of Lodi between Venice and Duke Francesco Sforza of Milan—a historic event commemorated by a plaque mounted on the sanctuary wall. Additional tombstones belonging to local noble families are set directly into the nave floor.
Visiting
Deconsecrated in 1797 during the Napoleonic period and stripped of its furnishings in 1806, the sanctuary complex was handed over to the Civil Hospital of Padua and converted into a thermal bath facility. It reopened as a place of worship in 1850 and became a parish church in 1925 following extensive restoration work.
Our editors' tip
Take time to inspect the church's epigraphic details, specifically the floor slab of friar Simone da Camerino near the altar and the wall plaque commemorating the historic Peace of Lodi signed on April 9, 1454.