Madonna del Sasso, Switzerland


The Madonna del Sasso is a sanctuary and pilgrimage church in Orselina, above the city of Locarno in Switzerland. It is the principal sight and goal of pilgrimage in the city.
The founding of the sanctuary goes back to a vision of the Virgin Mary that the Franciscan brother Bartolomeo d'Ivrea experienced in the night of 14/15 August 1480. The interior is highly decorated, and a platform has views of the city.
The sanctuary is linked to Locarno city centre by the Locarno–Madonna del Sasso funicular.
On 14 August 1880, the Vatican Chapter under Pope Leo XIII crowned the venerated image via Papal legate Paolo Angelo Ballerini, following fesfivities of August 15–16, marking the 400 years of its Marian apparition.