The sanctuary, destroyed during World War II following two aerial bombings (December 1944 and March 1945), was reconstructed starting in 1953 and inaugurated in August 1960.
The building was designed by architect Brenno del Giudice in collaboration with Venetian architect Achille Vettorazzo, assisted by Father Timoteo Bertinato.
In a neo-Romanesque style, it features a Latin cross floor plan. The exterior is made of exposed brick and Istrian stone. Large rose windows and tall windows run along the temple walls, accompanied by a series of arches that reappear in the Romanesque-Byzantine-style cloister.
A wide staircase and two side ramps lead to the main entrance. Above the door is a lunette depicting a Madonna and Child. The tympanum on the façade is decorated with a mosaic narrating the sanctuary’s history.
The interior floor plan consists of a single nave, 60 meters long, 14 meters wide, and 17 meters high. Several chapels and confessionals are set into the side walls. The apse, elevated above the nave, is monumental. A large golden mosaic serves as the backdrop for an imposing marble group depicting the Crucifixion. Two chapels flank the presbytery: the right one is dedicated to the Merciful Jesus, while the left one is dedicated to the Madonna of Rosa. Both chapels feature mosaic cladding. The same technique decorates other elements, such as the dome and the left wall of the transept.
Between 1893 and 1902, the bell tower was built based on a design by Venetian engineer Pietro Saccardo. In the niches at the level of the bells are statues of St. Joseph, St. Peter, St. Paul, and the Redeemer (works by sculptor Paolo Passomai of Solighetto). The drum features a colonnade topped by a dome with a lantern. The octagonal bell tower is nicknamed the “Egg Bell Tower” because it was largely funded by the proceeds of egg collections made by children who went door-to-door weekly.
The sanctuary was reduced to rubble by the bombings of December 31, 1944, and March 22, 1945, yet the devotional image remained intact. The new temple was begun in 1953 near the site of the previous one and was blessed and opened for worship on August 28, 1960. The Latin cross-shaped church is built in a nearly indecipherable composite style. The façade has a large central rose window and two long stained-glass windows on the sides. The tympanum cornice features three statues, and below it is a grand mosaic created by the Spilimbergo (Pordenone) mosaic school based on a design by Fred Pittino of Udine. A colonnaded portico with round arches runs along the façade and sides up to the transept. The interior has a single nave with a presbyterial apse, two side chapels with small apses flanking the presbytery, and six lateral chapels.
**Description:** A 16th-century fresco attributed to Marco Tiussi of Spilimbergo. The image of the Virgin and Child was originally on the wall of Giovanni Giacomuzzi’s house, one of two houses that survived the Tagliamento flood of 1643. On February 2, 1655 (Candlemas), Giovanni’s epileptic young niece prayed before the Virgin’s image, which appeared to her, saying it wished to be moved to a church on a busy road and promising her healing. Authorities decided to move the image on March 31, 1655, to the church of San Nicolò extra muros, first placing it on the left side altar and later on the main altar. The fresco miraculously survived the sanctuary’s destruction during World War II bombings. Since August 28, 1960, the Virgin’s image has been in the new sanctuary.
**Date of origin:** Between 1550 and 1550.
**Epiphany:** Madonna and Child.
**Image:** Painting.
**Original location of the Sanctuary:** Behind the choir area, in a separate corridor following the circular shape of the apse, connected to other buildings in the sanctuary complex.
**Notes on the collection:** Ex-votos from the 17th century to the present. The collection includes painted wooden tablets, oil on canvas and cardboard, watercolors on parchment and paper, tempera on paper and cardboard, silver hearts, photographs, and embroidered pictures with the initials P.G.R. Until the mid-19th century, two flags and a banner taken from the Turks in the 1683 Battle of Vienna by knights from San Vito al Tagliamento and offered to the Madonna as thanks were also kept but later lost.
**Types of ex-votos:** Tablets or plaques with inscriptions, painted tablets, various objects.
**Current preservation:** For security reasons, the current location is omitted.
**References to publications or printed descriptions:** Lucchetta 1972, plate XXXIII, pp. 25–37.
**1653–1953 (entire structure realization)**
In 1953, the cornerstone for the new sanctuary was laid. On March 31, 1655, the miraculous image was moved from the wall of Giovanni Giacomuzzi’s house in San Vito al Tagliamento to the church of San Nicolò extra muros, first placed on the left side altar dedicated to Saints Mark and John the Evangelist and later moved to the main altar due to growing devotion to the Madonna.
Zoff 1991, pp. 201–4; Corner 1760, pp. 121–4. According to the main legend, the island of Barbana was once the lazaretto of Aquileia. A strong storm swept the island, and the statue of the Madonna was seen floating on the waves before settling on a tree, where Patriarch Elijah later built the sanctuary.
In 1655, the image of the Madonna and Child (16th century) was brought to the church of San Nicolò at the request of Maria Giacomuzzi, daughter of Giacomo, near whose house in Villa di Rosa the image was found intact under the ruins of the family home. Maria, who was epileptic, had a vision of the Madonna asking to be moved to a better location along a busy road. Maria was healed, and the church of San Nicolò extra muros was chosen. Plans for a larger sanctuary began in the 1830s–40s and were completed in 1860. Bombings in World War II severely damaged the sanctuary, but the Virgin and Child image miraculously survived again. With the help of Franciscan friars (called in since 1923) and the generosity of the faithful, the cornerstone for the new sanctuary was laid in 1953 and completed in 1960.
In 1805, Pope Pius VII granted a plenary indulgence, applicable also for the souls in Purgatory, to all who visited the sanctuary during the triduum of the solemn celebration of the 150th anniversary of the Apparition.
Piazzale del Santuario, 3, 33078 San Vito al Tagliamento PN, Italy
