Sanctuary of the Madonna della Corona

The Sanctuary of the Madonna della Corona is built into a vertical cliff face on the eastern flank of Monte Baldo, high above the Adige valley in the province of Verona. The rock is not a backdrop to the building but part of it: the church is set into a recess in the cliff, with the mountain rising sheer above the roof and falling away below the terrace in front.

It has been a place of pilgrimage for centuries, and still is — which is the main thing to understand before visiting. People come to pray as much as to look, and the atmosphere on a pilgrimage day is quite different from a quiet weekday morning.

This is an active place of worship before it is a viewpoint. Services and private prayer continue while visitors are present, so modest dress — shoulders and knees covered — and quiet inside the church are expected rather than merely encouraged.

The Scala Santa is in devotional use. Walking up it for a photograph, or past people using it, is the single most common way visitors give offence here.

Spiazzi is a small village absorbing a large number of cars on peak days. Arriving early, or walking up from the valley, takes real pressure off it — and the stepped path is the way the site was reached for centuries, which is its own argument.

There are two ways in, and they make for completely different days out.

By road, via the mountain road to the village of Spiazzi, from which a paved, mostly downhill walk of about fifteen minutes reaches the sanctuary. This is how the large majority of visitors arrive.

On foot from the valley, by the stepped pilgrim path that climbs from Brentino Belluno — a sustained ascent of several hundred metres, in full sun for much of its length. It is the historic approach and by far the more memorable one, but it should be treated as a hill walk rather than a stroll: proper footwear, water, and time.

Entry to the sanctuary itself is free. Parking at Spiazzi is limited and fills on summer weekends and feast days.