

Sanctuary of the Madonna delle Grazie

The Sanctuary of the Madonna delle Grazie is the sacred building dedicated to the patron saint of the Italian skiers, the only one of the most important pilgrimage sites in the whole Trentino.
The original genre dates back to the 16th century: tradition has it that Fra Pietro Dal Dosso of Folgaria, a young friar, was inspired by the Madonna to build a small church in his honor on the back of the Echen.

Inside the sanctuary there is a terracotta statue of the Madonna which stands on the high altar, considered sacred because several miraculous facts are attributed to it.

The fame of the Sanctuary grew so much on 1 August 1954 that the sacred place received and an exceptional visit: the Cardinal Patriarch of Venice Giovanni Roncalli, future Pope John XXIII. Following that visit, with the Decree of 1955 on the Madonnina di Folgaria, she was solemnly declared Celeste as the patron saint of Italian skiers.