Genazzano (a town of approximately 6,000 inhabitants in the eastern Castelli Romani zone, Metropolitan City of Rome. 40km southeast of the capital on Via Prenestina direction, at 374m altitude in the volcanic Colli Albani foothills) has the most specific miraculous tradition of any Lazio pilgrimage site: the Madonna del Buon Consiglio (the sacred image in the Sanctuary of the Madonna del Buon Consiglio, the Augustinian church in the Genazzano historic center) is the image that, according to the tradition documented since 1467, arrived in Genazzano floating through the air on April 25, 1467, from Scutari (modern-day Shkodër in Albania), simultaneously disappearing from the Albanian church where it had been venerated. The specific tradition holds that the image (a small fragment of fresco on a thin layer of plaster, approximately 45cm x 39cm, the dimensions are specific and documented) traveled from Albania to Italy in the air, arriving at Genazzano during a local festival and coming to rest on the unfinished wall of the Augustinian church. The historical documentation (the 15th-century notarial acts recording the event, the testimonies of the witnesses) is among the more extensively documented of the Italian miraculous image traditions.
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Genazzano: Sanctuary and Castle
The Sanctuary of the Madonna del Buon Consiglio
The Sanctuary (in the Genazzano historic center, the Augustinian complex rebuilt around the miraculous image from the 15th century onward) receives approximately 300,000-400,000 pilgrims and visitors per year, making it one of the primary Marian pilgrimage sites in Lazio. The image (the "angelic fresco", the small plaster fragment with the painted image of the Madonna and Child that is suspended without visible support in its specific niche, the specific claim of miraculous suspension that the devotional tradition maintains) is visible to visitors in the chapel. The sanctuary complex (the Augustinian church, the monastery, the outdoor piazza for large-scale pilgrimages) is freely accessible during opening hours.
The Colonna Castle
The Castello Colonna of Genazzano (the 15th-century Colonna family fortification on the hill above the sanctuary, the castle that the Colonna family built as their primary eastern Castelli property, held by Martin V, the Colonna pope, and later by Marcantonio Colonna, the admiral who commanded the Christian fleet at the Battle of Lepanto in 1571) is the specific secular monument of Genazzano. The castle exterior (freely visible from the castle hill) and the occasional interior access (through the municipal cultural program) document the specific Colonna architectural patronage tradition.
Q&A: Genazzano
Is Genazzano worth visiting for non-pilgrims?
Yes, the medieval historic center (the specific compact medieval townscape of a Colonna family town, with the castle dominating the upper part and the sanctuary complex dominating the lower, connected by the medieval streets with their porticoed sections) is a genuinely interesting urban environment independent of the pilgrimage significance. The Genazzano wine (the local table wine from the eastern Castelli volcanic slopes, not a DOC but the specific domestic wine of the Colonna estate tradition) and the local food (the typical Castelli trattoria (informal family-run restaurant) near the sanctuary serves the pilgrimage lunch tradition, the substantial Roman meal for walkers who have arrived after a morning journey).
