The Shrine of the Corona, also known as a sanctuary in the rock, is a place of prayer and meditation, an ideal destination for those seeking inner serenity, away from the noise of our big cities. It rises 774 meters above sea level, overlooking the Adige valley, as if suspended in mid-air between heaven and earth, between the high rocky walls of Mount Baldo.

The religious site is located in Spiazzi, a very suggestive locality, along the border of Caprino Veronese and Ferrara di Monte Baldo, in the province of Verona. Its position allows you to enjoy the spectacle that nature can offer in this enchanted territory in complete tranquility.

The origins of the Shrine of the Corona are already attested to around the year 1000, where hermits linked to the Abbey of San Zeno in Verona lived in the area. We find other testimonies in the second half of 1200, with the presence of a monastery and a chapel dedicated to Santa Maria di Montebaldo, accessible through a particularly narrow and dangerous path on the rock.

The first church dates back to 1530, opened after the visit of bishop Gian Matteo Giberti, and became a sanctuary a few years later, in 1625, thanks to the knights of Malta who rebuilt a new and larger church four meters above the previous one, which was incorporated under to the new presbytery.

Over the years, thanks to some private contributions, the access routes were arranged and some cavities were enlarged due to the need to accommodate more and more pilgrims. Finally, in the nineteenth century the church was equipped with a new Gothic style facade, all decorated with precious marbles typical of the area. The difficulty in accessing it helped to preserve the site, which has reached our days practically intact.

Among the works that stand out inside we find the Scala Santa, a reproduction of the staircase located in Rome, near the Basilica of San Giovanni in Laterano, which became famous because Jesus went up and down it several times on the day he was scourged. , crowned with thorns and sentenced to death on the cross, thus staining it with his blood.

A statuette of the Madonna holding the dead Christ in her lap is venerated at the Shrine of the Corona, which according to a legend, the Addolorata miraculously appeared in the 11th century, at the time of the Turkish occupation of Rhodes, the largest island in the Aegean , where it would have previously been kept.

Devotion to the Madonna is attested in many Dioceses of Vicenza and Verona, and in particular in the parishes of Lessinia, from where numerous pilgrimages departed. In Sant’Anna d’Alfaedo we can admire a painting that describes the transport of the Madonna della Corona from Rhodes to the areas of Monte Baldo, donated by Ludovico di Castelbarco as an ex voto in 1432.

The Shrine of the Corona can be reached by following a scenic route of about two hours, along the Sentiero della Speranza, which starts from the town of Brentino Belluno, and passes through a lush forest until you reach the staircase leading to the church. Once a destination for the faithful on pilgrimage, today it is an ideal path for lovers of trekking and beautiful walks.

It can be reached more comfortably from the village of Spiazzi, where an asphalted road was built that ends at the tunnel dug into the rock, and where we can admire the painting of the Madonna and Child, originally from the fourteenth century, which was the first image venerated in the first church. Along the paved road we find the fourteen stations of the Via Crucis in bronze statues, an opportunity to begin the approach to the sanctuary in prayer and reflection. The route can also be covered by shuttle bus.

• Info Excursion Path of Hope
• Start: Brentino Belluno
• Arrival: Shrine of the Corona
• Duration: about 2:00 h
• Difference in altitude: 600 meters
• Difficulty: Medium - Easy
• Signpost Number: 73
• Features: 1500 steps