Sacro Monte di Graglia

The Sacro Monte di Graglia is one of the numerous devotional places around the Italian Alps and it houses the Santuario di Nostra Signora di Loreto, one of the four major sanctuaries of the Biellese territory. Set in the Valle Elvo at 690 m on the sea level, the sanctuary is built near the Lauretana water industry.

The complex is a stage of many devotional paths, among which CoEur - In the heart of European paths and Path of Saint Charles.

The history of the Sacro Monte is related to the religious feelings of the early 17th century, when the idea of a "New Jerusalem" built in the neighbourhood was famous thanks to the Sacro Monte di Varallo.

Don Andrea Velotti, the parish priest of Graglia had this idea in 1605, as he came back from the Holy Land. The project imagined the building of 100 chapels decorated with statues narrating several biblical episodes, from the Genesis to the Life of Jesus.

The building began in 1616 and lasted eight years: in this period only 10 chapels were built and the whole project stopped when don Velotti died in 1624.

In the following years, thanks to the grace received from Nostra Signora di Loreto, a new project was designed: the building of a majestic sanctuary consecrated to the Madonna Lauretana, with a shelter for pilgrims. Charles Emmanuel II, Duke of Savoy was interested in the project and sent the court military engineer Pietro Arduzzi to design the church, and also financed the building. The building began in 1654 and the central plan church was intent to incorporate, beneath the dome, a chapel picturing the so-called Nazareth's house relic kept in the Basilica della Santa Casa di Loreto. The construction was fast, but it stopped a few times due to wars, famines and epidemics. Only in 1684 the four chapels connected to the sanctuary (Nativity of Jesus, Visit of the Magi, Presentation of Jesus at the Temple, Circumcision) were completed.

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