Sanctuary of Santa Maria del Sasso
A Renaissance complex that is an artistic and spiritual point of reference in the Casentino
The Sanctuary of Santa Maria del Sasso is located in Bibbiena, about 1 kilometer from the historic center, on the road to Chiusi della Verna.
The first stone of the ancient church was placed in 1347, following a miraculous episode, the apparition of the Virgin to a local girl on June 1347, 23.
The current architecture of the building is based on a 15-century project by Giuliano da Maiano, thanks also to the interest of Lorenzo the Magnificent.
Today the complex includes the main church, the lower chapel, the crypt, the convent, the cloister and the cemetery.
The portico that welcomed the pilgrims, to the right of the church, has lunettes decorated with eighteenth-century frescoes that illustrate episodes related to the miracles attributed to the Madonna del Sasso.
Inside the church there are numerous works of art; the small temple in the center, a masterpiece by Bartolomeo Bozzolini da Fiesole, is decorated with a glazed frieze, a fifteenth-century fresco of the Madonna del Sasso by Bicci di Lorenzo and an Annunciation by Giovanni del Brina.
Part of the sancturay is also the convent, home of a community of Dominican nuns. Here is possible to visit the ancient refectory and the large cloister with a central well, the only example of a sixteenth-century cloister in the Casentino.
The entire complex is a location that breaths of art and spirituality, surrounded by an agricultural context.
