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Basilica Sanctuary of the Mother of God Incoronata

Sanctuary · Foggia (Borgo Incoronata) · Puglia

In brief

Festivals and dates

From the Cervaro wood to the basilica

According to tradition, at dawn on the last Saturday of April 1001 a count from Ariano Irpino, out hunting in the Cervaro wood, now the Incoronata Wood, and a shepherd known as Strazzacappa saw among the branches of an oak a statue of the Virgin and Child, being crowned by angels. The count, healed through Our Lady's intercession, had a small chapel, three metres by six, built in front of the oak.

A monastery grew up beside the church and over the centuries was cared for by Italo-Greek monks, Benedictines of Montevergine, Cistercians, Augustinians, Dominicans and, from the late 18th century to 1861, the Brothers Hospitallers of Saint John of God. The oldest documents record it in the 12th century as 'Monasterium Sanctae Mariae Coronatae'. In periods of decline the sanctuary survived mainly thanks to pilgrims and to the shepherds who came down from Abruzzo and Molise to the Tavoliere with the seasonal transhumance.

On 1 April 1950 the bishop of Foggia entrusted the sanctuary to Don Orione's Sons of Divine Providence, who within fifteen years built the new church and its facilities. John Paul II visited in 1987, calling it an oasis of peace for those seeking an encounter with the Mother of the Saviour.

Sources: L'Olio Benedetto della Madonna Incoronata - Basilica Santuario Madre di Dio Incoronata · Il Santuario, vicende e opere artistiche - Basilica Santuario Madre di Dio Incoronata · Storia Santuario - Basilica Santuario Madre di Dio Incoronata · Giovanni Paolo II, Alle famiglie, Santuario dell'Incoronata (24 maggio 1987) - vatican.va

The oil, the three rounds and the walking pilgrimages

Devotion to the Incoronata is bound up with simple gestures. The shepherd Strazzacappa, unable to build a church, poured all the oil he had into a copper pot, the 'caldarella', and turned it into a lamp that, according to the story, never ran dry. Ever since, pilgrims have anointed their foreheads with the blessed oil: today they do so in the Chapel of the Anointing, where many devotees bring oil they have produced themselves for the priests to bless.

Another ancient practice is the 'three rounds': before entering, pilgrims walk three times around the sanctuary, praying and singing in honour of the Trinity; the gesture also recalls the story of the shepherd who walked three times around the oak carrying the sick count on his shoulders. The sanctuary considers it likely that the custom dates back to the presence of monks of Basilian spirituality.

A distinctive trait of the Incoronata is its popular devotion: for centuries many pilgrimages have been led not by the clergy but by the faithful themselves, with elderly guides, a banner or a crucifix at the head of the group, a cowbell and old hymns sung in dialect or Italian. For the feast many devotees walk through the night to reach the sanctuary.

Sources: L'Olio Benedetto della Madonna Incoronata - Basilica Santuario Madre di Dio Incoronata · I tre giri - Basilica Santuario Madre di Dio Incoronata · Apparizione - Basilica Santuario Madre di Dio Incoronata · Devozione Popolare - Basilica Santuario Madre di Dio Incoronata · Foggia: il Santuario della Madonna Incoronata - CEI, Ufficio per la pastorale del tempo libero, turismo e sport

A great trullo in concrete

The new basilica, designed by Luigi Vagnetti and built between 1954 and 1965, recalls the trulli and the shepherds' old huts: a large square volume with a 32.5-metre central dome, four smaller trulli on the sides and four more at the corners, all roofed in copper. The base measures 43 metres per side, and in the crypt the central space reproduces the dimensions of the first chapel, three metres by six. The bell tower, 58 metres high including the cross, was built in 1958.

Inside, suspended above the congregation, hangs the great chandelier shaped like a royal crown, ten metres across and weighing four tonnes, bearing the words of the Salve Regina. On the high altar stands the dark statue of the Madonna and Child, dressed in white and gold silk. Stained-glass windows by Guido Grilli and Antonio Boatto depict the Holy Spirit, the crowning of Mary, the finding of the statue in the oak and the works of mercy.

Also worth seeing are the old crucifix linked to an episode in the life of Saint Gerard Majella, the Chapel of the Anointing with Strazzacappa's caldarella, the relics of Saint Amantius in the Last Supper chapel and the organ of about 2,000 pipes from 1982.

Sources: Il Santuario, vicende e opere artistiche - Basilica Santuario Madre di Dio Incoronata · Apparizione - Basilica Santuario Madre di Dio Incoronata · Foggia: il Santuario della Madonna Incoronata - CEI, Ufficio per la pastorale del tempo libero, turismo e sport · L'Olio Benedetto della Madonna Incoronata - Basilica Santuario Madre di Dio Incoronata

The last week of April

The main feast is that of the Apparition, on the last Saturday of April. The sanctuary's calendar marks the days before it: on the Wednesday before the last Saturday of April the statue of the Madonna and Child is robed, on the Friday comes the Cavalcade of the Angels, a religious, popular and folk festival, and on the following Sunday, at the evening Mass, oil is offered for the caldarella lamp.

Every year, on the feast day, the statue is given a new garment; by tradition it is dressed for the procession by young women who wish to have a child. Pilgrims arrive from all over Puglia: many walk through the night to arrive at four in the morning, the hour at which the apparition is believed to have taken place, and before entering they make the three rounds of the sanctuary.

In the past the sanctuary stayed open from the Wednesday of the feast until June, and throughout May the great Incoronata Fair was held between the wood and the church. The liturgical calendar also includes 1 January, the solemnity of the Mother of God, to whom the basilica is dedicated, and 10 February, the memorial of Saint Amantius.

Sources: Feste - Liturgie - Basilica Santuario Madre di Dio Incoronata · Devozione Popolare - Basilica Santuario Madre di Dio Incoronata · Foggia: il Santuario della Madonna Incoronata - CEI, Ufficio per la pastorale del tempo libero, turismo e sport · Apparizione - Basilica Santuario Madre di Dio Incoronata

Visiting the sanctuary

The sanctuary is at Borgo Incoronata, within the municipality of Foggia, on Via Don Orione, and is surrounded by the wood of the same name, which shelters it from the summer heat and creates an atmosphere of recollection. The complex covers about thirteen hectares, with a large forecourt. For information and requests, the point of reference is the Basilica Sanctuary's official website, santuarioincoronata.it.

The church stands apart from the other buildings precisely so that pilgrims can make the three rounds before entering. From the forecourt a wide staircase of low steps, built in 2023 among green areas with olive trees, leads up to the sanctuary, flanked by two access ramps for people with disabilities. Before going up to venerate the statue, tradition calls for a stop at the Chapel of the Anointing; in the small chapel of Saint Luigi Orione, under the portico on the left, the Rosary is recited on weekdays.

Sources: Basilica Santuario Mariano Madre di Dio Incoronata - sito ufficiale · Il Santuario, vicende e opere artistiche - Basilica Santuario Madre di Dio Incoronata · L'Olio Benedetto della Madonna Incoronata - Basilica Santuario Madre di Dio Incoronata · Feste - Liturgie - Basilica Santuario Madre di Dio Incoronata

Sources