Santuario della Madonna di San Luca

Sanctuary Bologna, Italy

The sanctuary of the Madonna di San Luca is a basilica dedicated to the Catholic Marian cult and stands on the Guardia hill, a partly wooded spur at about 300 m above sea level. southwest of the historic center of Bologna. It is an important sanctuary in the history of the city, since its origins a destination for pilgrimages to venerate the icon of the Virgin and Child known as "di San Luca". The sanctuary can be reached from Porta Saragozza through a long and characteristic porticoed street, which crosses via Saragozza with the monumental Arco del Meloncello (1732) and then climbs steeply up to the sanctuary.