The exterior, made of sandstone, is very simple and essential, yet elegant and majestic.
The interior, in the shape of a Latin cross, is bright and spacious; it seems reminiscent of the church of Santa Maria al Calcinaio in Cortona, built about a century earlier (1485) by Francesco di Giorgio Martini. The entrance is topped by the wooden structure of the choir loft (late 17th to early 18th century) with a polychrome, carved, and gilded balustrade; there are eight side altars. The high altar stands at the center of the transept beneath the large dome and serves as a backdrop for the apse area, which is currently used as a sacristy.
**Description:** The work is a fresco. Placed at the center of the high altar, it depicts the Madonna and Child enthroned with angels and dates back to the second half of the 15th century, likely the work of a collaborator of Bartolomeo Caporali. The Virgin is portrayed seated on a throne cushion, holding a thread tied to the leg of a goldfinch resting on the Child’s left hand with her right fingers. Two angels hold a golden drapery in the background, matching the cushion on which Mary sits. The Child wears a coral necklace around his neck.
**In use:** Between 1450 and 1570
**Image:** Painting
**Original location in the sanctuary:** Not documented.
**Collection notes:** These are votive offerings—illuminated tablets, painted objects, jewelry, anthropomorphic and anatomical figurines, hearts, breasts, eyes, torsos, swaddled infants—all made of silvered metal sheets.
**Types of votive offerings:** Illuminations, painted tablets, jewelry, anthropomorphic figurines, real or represented prosthetics, various objects.
**Current preservation:** Currently fixed in three display cases on either side of the high altar and inside the sacristy.
The church was built at the end of the 16th century, possibly using materials from the ruined Monastery of the Camaldolese of San Vincenzo, and likely designed by Mariotto Radi da Cortona, a sculptor who also created the high altar. According to tradition, the construction of such a large temple was intended to house the miraculous image of a votive Madonna, originally placed not far from the shores of Lake Trasimeno among the olive trees. This frescoed image was later detached, placed in a niche, and positioned at the center of the high altar, where it remains today.
The faithful of Passignano and the local authorities commissioned sculptors and architects from nearby Cortona—who had previously overseen renowned projects—to build the church. A noblewoman from the Della Corgna family of Città della Pieve, in gratitude for the miraculous rescue of her boat, commissioned a sandstone sculpture of the Madonna of the Olive Grove in 1587. Until 1984–1985, it was placed in a niche on the church façade but has since been moved inside the right transept for conservation reasons.
In 1570, Cardinal Fulvio entrusted the jurisdiction of the Olive Grove to the government of Passignano, as confirmed by Clement VIII in a papal bull of 1600. To this day, the church remains under the ownership and administration of the Municipality of Passignano. The sanctuary has been a focal point of deep devotion for the local population over the centuries, with the feast of August 15 still celebrated with great participation.
In recent decades, particularly between 1970 and 1990, significant improvements have been made to the conservation of this monument, alongside ongoing efforts to enhance its historical documents, furnishings, and artworks.
Near the lake among the olive trees, not far from where the church now stands, there was once a small shrine dedicated to the Madonna. One day, a young disabled girl, while praying to the Virgin to heal her leg, heard a voice asking her to go to the magistrates of Passignano and tell them that Mary wanted a temple built in her honor. The magistrates did not believe her, but the Madonna healed the girl’s leg, allowing her to prove the truth of her words. Convinced, the magistrates built the sanctuary.
According to historian Francesca Abbozzo, in 1570, Cardinal Fulvio entrusted the jurisdiction of the Olive Grove to the government of Passignano, as confirmed by Clement VIII in the bull of 1600. To this day, the church depends on the Municipality of Passignano, which also owns it. (Evidence of this exists in the Historical Archive of Passignano, where a collection of twenty folders titled *Administration of the Sanctuary of the Olive Grove, 17th century–1934* is preserved.)
06065 Passignano Sul Trasimeno PG, Italy
