Costigliole d'Asti - Sanctuary of the Blessed Virgin of Graces

The origins of the Sanctuary are very ancient and date back to the middle of the sixteenth century, during the war between France and Spain. In 1558 the French who were occupying the castle of Costigliole, attacked by the Spanish militia, were forced to flee. During the retreat, a group of fugitives led by the Cocito brothers, two Piedmontese officers, found shelter in a tower still standing, among the ruins of the castle of Lù. The Spanish undermined the tower with the intention of blowing it up with men inside. The two defenseless brothers embraced each other invoking the protection of the Holy Virgin, whose image they wore. The tower collapsed and just stones remained of it. The two brothers miraculously came unhurt out of the rubble, so that the unbelieving Spanish commander rescued them, took care of them and escorted them to Asti.

A few years later the Cocito brothers, in memory of the grace received, built a pylon in honour of the Virgin, at the intersection of the roads to Costigliole, Agliano and Montegrosso, not far from the place of this event. In some documents of the time it's written, in fact, about the existence of a pylon or votive chapel, built on the land of the Marquises Asinari, the so-called chapel of the seven streets, which over time became a place of worship and devotion, even for the surrounding areas. Inside it was painted an effigy of the Holy Virgin and, according to the documents of the time, this was the site of numerous miraculous events, documented and collected in the parish archive with the approval of the Episcopal Curia of Pavia.

The fame of the prodigious events, which brought pilgrims from anywhere, became such that it was decided to build a shrine in honor of the Holy Mary, which incorporated the ancient chapel. The first stone was laid on Sunday, November 23rd, 1727 and after a year the foundations and the outer walls were finished. The work was then interrupted by disagreements between the lords of Costigliole, to which were added the war between France and Spain and a severe famine. The erection works resumed only in 1736 and on 11th August 1744, Giovanni Battista De Filippi Baldissero, the parish priest at the time, inaugurated the new Sanctuary, with a great religious ceremony.

The Shrine of Lù, which contains the ancient chapel with the miraculous image, is realized in sober and elegant Baroque style. The plan is shaped like a Latin cross, with a central nave and two chapels that act as arms. The Baroque façade, designed by Bartolomeo Ceruti of Cavallermaggiore, with stone ornaments created by Bartolomeo Ruggia, has two rows of columns and in the center of the curved pediment stands a large iron cross with stone flames. The main altar is made of polychrome marble, surmounted by a canvas painting made by Agostino Cottolengo of Bra in 1839, which represents the Virgin with the Child Jesus in her arms, surrounded by angels, in the act of spreading Graces on Castigliole.

In the chapel on the right there is a large painting showing Saints Sebastian, Precodrio and John Nipomuceno, made by Bartolomeo Rinaldi. Next to the chapel is located the lacquered pulpit realized in 1760 by Mossino, while the brick altar is the work of Trivelli. In the chapel on the left, instead, another painting depicts Saint Isidoro, a servant from the countryside and patron of farmers, also by Rinaldi, dated 1745. Only the altar in masonry is remained of the original structure, also made by Trivelli. The ancient chapel of the miraculous Virgin of Graces is almost hidden, jealously guarded, located next to the main altar, right in the place where the old pylon stood. On the walls, to witness the devotion of many faithful, the long rows of ex voto can be seen. The temple is surmounted by an octagonal dome which forms its ceiling and from which a light is spread that seems to animate the painted angels, evangelists and saints.