Originally, the chapel was located along a road. Local tradition holds that it was part of a monastery dedicated to Santa Maria della Selva, built in 1225 at the behest of Count Bonafede, who allowed the first general chapter of the Servites to be held here in 1261. The Servites remained in this church until 1285.

The church had a single nave, four *braccia* long and about five high, built with lime and stone and covered with wooden planks and slabs on the roof. It was completely renovated between 1634 and 1653, the year of its consecration by Bishop Zanobi Medici. In 1681, two large rooms were added to the rectory at the request of Bishop Lodovico Malespina dei Marchesi da Ponte, as he often stayed at the small sanctuary during the summer.

The temple follows the Tuscan order, with three doors, a main altar adorned with stonework and two fluted columns. The miraculous image was removed from its original wall support and placed inside a tabernacle. The façade was poorly restored in the early 1900s, while the interior remained untouched and serves as an interesting example of religious architecture. Inside, there are three altars: the main one and two side altars, attributed to the Vasari school.

**Description:**
The fresco, believed to be miraculous, depicts the Virgin nursing the Child. To the right and left of the fresco are half-busts of two angels; all figures face the viewer. The fresco was flanked by two saintly figures on the right and left walls of the small tabernacle that housed it. These figures, already badly deteriorated by 1634, are now lost.

**First Use:** In the year 1634.

**Epiphany:**
The Madonna appeared to a young woman named Giulia di Pierino degli Agliotti, who was instructed to build a church on the site of the apparition.

**Image:** Painting

**Original Location of the Sanctuary:**
In 1634, votive offerings (wool, linen, and silk cloths) were hung inside and outside the chapel where the Madonna was venerated.

**Notes on the Collection:**
A chasuble, donated in 1635 by the Municipality of Subbiano, and a chalice, brought by veterans of World War II, are preserved.

**Types of Votive Offerings:**
Actual or depicted prostheses, various objects.

**Current Conservation Status:**
Due to restoration work, the votive offerings have been removed from their original location. For security reasons, their current placement is not disclosed.

In 1634, the priest of San Lorenzo in Papiano, following the miracles attributed to the Madonna della Selva, submitted a report to Vicar Alessandro Rigi about the events. Rigi verified the occurrences and left a record of the miraculous happenings.

Starting from the first Saturday of May 1634, miracles began occurring with some frequency at a roadside tabernacle.

Among the various miracles of 1634, particularly notable was the vision of the Madonna by a woman named Giulia di Pierino degli Agliotti, who was instructed to build a church where the Selva chapel now stands. The bishop’s report, which includes the woman’s testimony, reads:

*”That morning, I left my house at dawn to come before this holy image to recite the rosary, and when I was in the woods, something in my soul told me: ‘Go, the Madonna is there.’ When I arrived at this little chapel, I found inside, kneeling, a woman dressed in white *rascetta* with a white veil covering her head and shoulders, her hands clasped in prayer. She had a white cord around her waist and a black rosary around her neck, like the ones we use to say the Hail Mary and the Our Father. I also knelt inside the chapel, to her right, and began to recite the rosary before this holy image. When I finished twice, I said, ‘Be praised and thanked, grant me your good grace.’ As I turned toward the same image while saying this, the woman I had found there, dressed in white, turned her face to me and said: ‘I am the Madonna, I will give you my grace, do not doubt. There will be rain for the crops, and money will not be lacking to build the church.’ She told me not to speak of this for a month, and after that time, to tell the priest, which I did.”*

This record was compiled by Stefano Meacci and Giulietta Cappelletti.

The clergy serving the sanctuary came from the local parish. See the parish variations record for reference.

See Parish Variations.

52033 Caprese Michelangelo AR, Italy