The Sanctuary of the Madonna di Belvedere
The Sanctuary, which displays a venerated ancient image of the Madonna, is located at about five kilometers far from Città di Castello, along the Apecchiese Road crossing the Apennines and reaching Adriatic Sea.
The Sanctuary, which displays a venerated ancient image of the Madonna, is located at about five kilometers far from Città di Castello, along the Apecchiese Road crossing the Apennines and reaching Adriatic Sea. The church is on the beautiful Caprano hill, today called Belvedere hill, and it was built in Baroque style in the years 1669-84 following a design by Antonio Gabrielli and Nicola Barbioni.
It has an octagonal plan with four short arms, covered by a dome. In front of the entrance it stands a semicircular portico; inside the door you is the precious compass made by a skilled craftsman in 1883. Among the most important works housed inside the shrine are the Martyrdom of St. Vincent, painted by Giovanni Ventura Borghesi in 1699, placed in the right side chapel dedicated to the saint. The main altar dominates the church interior, and the the miraculous image of the Virgin Mary is displayed here. Over time, devotion to Our Lady of the Belvedere gradually grew, and the shrine became one of the most popular Marian cities of the Central Italy, with its fame reaching Rome, so that in 1703 the sacred image was solemnly crowned with license from the Capitolo Vaticano. The square in front of the church has a wonderful view of the city, with its bell towers, and of the upper Tiber Valley too, from the Mount Verna to Mount Acuto, near Umbertide.