The Sanctuary of S. Maria della Frasca, or delle Grazie, is located in Cesano Maderno, in the hamlet of Binzago: at one time it formed a single body and was attached to the convent of the Umiliate nuns. It was a hermitage of cloistered nuns where communal life consisted of work, prayer and penance.
The church's main fresco depicts the Madonna and was commissioned by the convent's abbess. Around the year 1081 the convent passed from the nuns to the Archinto family, the Milanese lineage that expressed the well-known Filippo Archinto, that Archbishop of Milan who was the trusted man of the Spanish Emperor Charles V in Italy. In 1581 St. Charles Borromeo visited the church of S. Maria and found it in total disrepair, so he ordered its restoration to a state of decorum. The inhabitants of Binzago then decided to restore worship.
The frescoes inside are partly from the 15th century and partly from the 17th century. In 1930 a major restoration of the building was carried out and in 1933 it was consecrated, in the state visible today, by the Cardinal of Milan Ildefonso Schuster.
The shrine constitutes one of the stages of the Way of St. Augustine.
Photo credits Lombardy Cultural Heritage
