Sanctuary of Our Lady of Polsi
Coordinates: 38°09′53″N 15°57′38″E / 38.164753°N 15.960419°E
The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Polsi, also known as the Sanctuary of Santa Maria di Polsi or Our Lady of the Mountain, is a Christian sanctuary in the heart of the Aspromonte mountains, near San Luca in Calabria, southern Italy. It was founded by Roger II of Sicily in 1144. The church and monastery are situated in a spectacular setting at the bottom of a gorge at an altitude of 865 metres surrounded by high mountains on the east side of the Montalto (1955 metres) the highest peak of the Aspromonte. The sanctuary is difficult to reach. Until some years ago Polsi could only reached by foot.
The sanctuary is a Basilian convent – one of the few which have survived in Calabria. The church has three naves; the central nave has the classic honeycomb ceiling decorated with solid gold leaf. The arches, resting on solid pillars, have been magnificently stuccoed by local craftsmen, while the scenes painted around the walls describe the life and miracles of the Virgin Mary.
The original statue of the Madonna was carved in tufa by a Sicilian artist in the 16th century and is coloured, with staring black and white eyes which follow the viewer. The second statue of the Madonna of the Mountains is kept in a niche in white marble. Every year, on September 2, her feast day, the statue is carried in procession by a great number of people. Every fifty years a very special event takes place at Polsi: the crowning of the statue of the Madonna on the main altar. The golden crowns were first placed on the heads of the Madonna and Child in 1860, when the father superior, Domenico Fera, to celebrate the threehundredth anniversary of the arrival of the statue in the Sanctuary in 1560.
...
Wikipedia