The Marian monastic complex on the summits of Mount Partenio, declared a national monument, is one of the six territorial abbeys in Italy. Its construction dates back to the consecration of the first church in 1126, although the ascent to the mountain by William of Vercelli is documented in 1118. The future Saint had chosen that solitary place for his asceticism, but the fame of his virtues eventually attracted numerous disciples and gave rise to a monastic community. In a short time, intense building activity led to the creation of the first cells for the religious and of a first small church that William’s deep Marian devotion – and not an apparition, as popular tradition holds – dedicated to the Madonna. United in the congregation of the Virginiani, the monks of Montevergine spread Marian devotion throughout the entire South of Italy, organizing pilgrimages and making Montevergine the most famous Marian sanctuary in Southern Italy. The original church underwent significant transformations over the centuries until it took on its current form, including two churches called the new Basilica and the old Basilica, the monastery, the guesthouse, the bell tower, the crypt, and annexed rooms. Already in 1180 the church of San Guglielmo was rebuilt and enlarged in Romanesque style. In the 13th century, Charles II of Anjou commissioned, in the right nave, a votive chapel and called the painter Montano d’Arezzo to decorate it who, between 1296 and 1297, painted the new icon of the Majesty of Montevergine, known as Mamma Schiavona. Between 1625 and 1631 the new altar and the marble complex that hosted the Virgin until 1960 were built. In 1629 much of the church collapsed: the new Baroque structure was completed in 1645 based on designs by the Neapolitan architect Gian Giacomo Conforti. In the 1950s, the Sanctuary, visited by faithful from all over the region and no longer able to accommodate pilgrims, was adapted to new devotional needs. The project, entrusted to architect Florestano di Fausto, envisaged grafting the new building onto the transverse axis of the pre-existing 17th-century church, in order to create a unified complex, in which the old church “would have constituted the shorter arm and the new church the longer arm of a large Latin cross.” The new place of worship was built, although not completed, in 1963, and the Madonna of Montevergine by Montano d’Arezzo was already transferred to the monumental altar of the new basilica. The visit begins from the new Basilica, in modernized Romanesque style, with three naves and a coffered ceiling; a large triumphal arch precedes the choir and the imposing main altar where until 2010 the majestic wooden image of the Madonna, attributed to Montano d’Arezzo, was placed. The throne is made of precious marbles and decorated with bronze statues and sculptures. The side naves, at the height of the presbytery, allow connection with the old Basilica. Entering the old Basilica, with three naves decorated with Baroque stuccoes of cherubs and volutes, from the central nave you can access the old Chapel of the Madonna, now the Chapel of the Crucifix, where the Majesty by Montano d’Arezzo will be relocated. The entire chapel is made of commesso marble; the vault features paintings of the Assumption, the Immaculate Conception, and the Child Mary, while on the walls are other paintings and the funerary monument of the Anjou family. At the end of the right nave is the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament, with a 12th-century Romanesque-Byzantine canopy. Outside the chapel stands the 15th-century monument to Caterina Filangieri. The main altar of the Basilica, built in the 17th century, features rich decoration in hardstone mosaics: close by is placed the bust of Saint Januarius, in memory of the presence in the Basilica of the Saint’s body transferred to Naples in 1497. The altar of Saint Michael presents the statue of the Archangel, in very white marble, from the 17th century and a mosaic executed by the Brancia family from Sorrento. The Chapel of the Unnailing, finally, preserves, besides the 1652 altar, a sarcophagus surmounted by the statue of Fabio de Lagonissa, who died in 1659. In the San Guglielmo Room are kept testimonies of graces received by the faithful and votive paintings.
Information on Montevergine Abbey
Via Montevergine
83013 Mercogliano (Avellino)
0825787191-789933
sacrestia@montevergine.org
Source: MIBACT
