Sanctuary of Madonna di San Luca (Bologna) Italy

AIRVŪZ STAFF NOTE : Check out this drone's eye view of a well-known church overlooking the city of Bologna, Italy. Shot by contributor and pilot enricoocif, the video beautifully captures the Sanctuary of the Madonna di San Luca. The church sits atop a hill called Monte della Guardia, about 300 meters (around 1k ft.) above the capital city of the Emilia-Romagna region of north-central Italy. The church was built in the early 18th century on the hill, which had been the site of an earlier church for hundreds of years.

over 5 years ago

1.5k VŪZ

Report

BADGES THIS VIDEO HAS EARNED:

The Sanctuary of the Madonna of San Luca is a basilica church in Bologna, northern Italy, sited atop a forested hill, Colle or Monte della Guardia, some 300 metres above the city plain, just south-west of the historical centre of the city. While a road now leads up to the sanctuary, it is also possible to reach it along a 3.8 km monumental roofed arcade (Portico di San Luca) consisting of 666 arches, which was built in 1674-1793. It was meant to protect the icon as it was paraded up the hill. A yearly procession from the Cathedral of San Pietro in the centre of Bologna to the Sanctuary goes along this path. Originally the arches held icons or chapels erected by the patron family.The over 600 arches of the portico, unique in the world for its length of almost four kilometers (3,796 m), connect the sanctuary to the city and provide shelter for the yearly procession that since 1433 leads the Byzantine Madonna and Child to the cathedral in the city centre during the Ascension week. Its construction began in 1674 with the building of the Bonaccorsi archway by G. G. Monti over Porta Saragozza.