Il Santuario di San Luca

With no expectation of hearing back from the realtor, we planned today as a sightseeing day. Considered going out of town, but then decided to stay in the city and go up to the Sanctuary of San Luca … a symbol of Bologna.

Good thing we stayed close.

We were on our way to San Luca when Mui got an email from the realtor with a counter-counter offer. I will skip over that for now and write about it in a separate footprint.

After a quick stop at a café for Mui to get himself a double espresso, we continued along Via Saragozza to arrive at the Arco del Meloncello — an 18th-century Rococo arch, that serves as the entrance to the Portico di San Luca … at the point where the portico starts to climb up to Colle della Guardia, the hill atop which the sanctuary is located.

Part of the UNESCO-listed porticos of Bologna, construction of this arched passageway began in 1674. It took 65 years to complete the 2.35-mile length … which consists of 666 arches, with 15 small chapels of the Mysteries of the Rosary scattered along the way.

We started — not by design, mind you — at arch 318. This section, I read in the brochure later, is just under 1.2 miles. Double that and add the steps from the AirBNB to our start point … well, that’s a lot of steps no matter which way you look at it.

The section of the portico that we walked had flat sections, ramps, and steps to negotiate the 650-foot elevation gain. We took it easy, stopping to check out the chapels and the occasional peaks at Bologna in the distance. Alas, the view served to underline the air quality issues in this part of Italy and marred the scenery a bit. While we weren’t huffing and puffing when we got up to the top of the portico, we were sweating buckets … despite having shed our layers before tackling the climb to the top.

The Basilica of the Blessed Virgin of San Luca (or Saint Luke, if you please) is a place of pilgrimage for the Catholics of the world. Construction of the original basilica began in 1678 and it was consecrated in 1765. The current basilica was built in the 18th century as a replacement.

What looks like a rather simple church from the outside hides elaborate Baroque features within its elliptical interior. Marble, gold gilding, oversized-paintings, and a frescoed dome all add to the richness on which one gazes once inside.

Visitors are allowed onto a small balcony in the main chapel behind the altar where one finds the ancona —a type of shrine — with the image of the Virgin and Child. It is to this shrine that pilgrims come to pray.

It is believed that the image, which dates back to the 12th or early 13th century, covers another image of the Madonna … one that tradition says was painted by Saint Luke. The top image is covered by a silver front panel, with gold trim and a crown. Around the rim of the opening through which one sees the face of the Virgin is a three-strand pearl necklace … one of the many valuable gifts by the faithful embedded in the panel. It is quite something to behold … though I only did so from the side of the balcony as I did not want to bother those who were praying. I said a quick prayer for mom and left from the other side of the balcony, which took me straight into the gift shop.

Returning to the back of the church, I found Mui urging me to join him. Turns out that he had purchased tickets for the climb up to the cupola and there was a lull in the visitors going up … a good time for us to climb the stairs for what is billed as the San Luca Sky Experience.

I must admit to being disappointed … even if it claims to be the highest cupola in Europe open to visitors. The 138-foot climb — 110 steps, I read — via a narrow, circular staircase took us to just one side of a small balcony outside the cupola. From the balcony, we had a distant view of the city … veiled in haze and capped with smog. The nearby scenery of the Hills of Bologna was admittedly lovely, with hints of fall foliage … but the view was hazy due to the direction of the light. Oh well … we’ll consider the price of the ticket — €3pp senior rate — a donation to the sanctuary.

Speaking of a donation, we doled out €2 to light a candle to the success of our “Italy: Ciao Bella” adventure … and prayed for the health and safety of our families. Then, we left to head down to the terrace for a look at the church itself. It really did look lovely … the church painted a shade of burnt sienna … against a backdrop of blue sky.

It was noon when we left to begin the portico walk down to the city. Even with just one or two stops along the to take a quick snapshot, it took us a little more than 40 minutes to get back to the Arch of Meloncello.

Time to go back to the AirBNB to take care of the caparra payment to seal the apartment deal.Read more