The Sanctuary of the Beata Vergine del Covolo is a religious building in Palladian style on the slopes of Monte Grappa, in the Crespano area. According to tradition, it has its origins in the 12th century, when the Madonna appeared to a deaf and dumb shepherdess who, alone grazing with her sheep, had taken refuge in a cave during a storm ("covolo" in local dialect). The Virgin spoke to her and told her to go to Crespano to tell everyone that she wanted a chapel in that place. The girl acquired the voice and hearing to do as she was ordered. In reality the sanctuary could have much more ancient origins, even preceding the Christian era if not Paleo-Venetian. The place, in fact, was particularly suitable for the cult of the divinities of the Earth thanks to the presence of a forest, the source of the Tre Busi and a cave called "delle Guane", whose name refers to legendary creatures of local folklore. The same den (now partly demolished and walled up to expand the church) may have favored human attendance as a place of shelter.
The first chapel dates back to 1300. The small church underwent expansions in 1541 and 1605, but took on its current form between 1804 and 1809 based on a design by the famous Antonio Canova. Canova preserved the ancient church set in the rock by building an elegant rotunda at midday with an atrium supported by eight Ionic-style columns. In 1844 the current road was built thanks to the contribution of numerous volunteers from towns between the Brenta and the Piave. On Good Friday of the following year a boulder broke away from the mountain and fell on the Sanctuary, destroying the sacristy and presbytery. It was considered miraculous that the statue of the Madonna, still displayed near the main altar, was recovered intact at the bottom of the valley.
Along the three kilometers that go up from Crespano towards Covolo, the 15 capitals of the Mysteries of the Rosary were built in 1943. On the triangular pediment of the facade there is a fresco depicting the apparition of the Virgin to the shepherdess. At the beginning of the twentieth century the sanctuary underwent some important interventions aimed mainly at internal ornaments. The latest restorations were in 1987 and 2012.
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